Secret Flowers
Katherine Mansfield 1888 (Wellington) – 1923 (Fontainebleau, Île-de-France)
Is love a light for me? A steady light,
A lamp within whose pallid pool I dream
Over old love-books? Or is it a gleam,
A lantern coming towards me from afar
Down a dark mountain? Is my love a star?
Ah me!- so high above so coldly bright!
The fire dances. Is my love a fire
Leaping down the twilight muddy and bold?
Nay, I'd be frightened of him. I'm too cold
For quick and eager loving. There's a gold
Sheen on these flower petals as they fold
More truly mine, more like to my desire.
The flower petals fold. They are by the sun
Forgotten. In a shadowy wood they grow
Where the dark trees keep up a to-and-fro
Shadowy waving. Who will watch them shine
When I have dreamed my dream? Ah, darling mine,
Find them, gather them for me one by one.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 19, 2023
- 45 sec read
- 104 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABBCCADEEEEDFGGHHF |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 732 |
Words | 149 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 18 |
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"Secret Flowers" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/25130/secret-flowers>.
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