To J. D. H.
Sidney Lanier 1842 (Macon) – 1881 (Lynn)
(Killed at Surrey C. H., October, 1866.)
. . . . .
Dear friend, forgive a wild lament
Insanely following thy flight.
I would not cumber thine ascent
Nor drag thee back into the night;
But the great sea-winds sigh with me,
The fair-faced stars seem wrinkled, old,
And I would that I might lie with thee
There in the grave so cold, so cold!
Grave walls are thick, I cannot see thee,
And the round skies are far and steep;
A-wild to quaff some cup of Lethe,
Pain is proud and scorns to weep.
My heart breaks if it cling about thee,
And still breaks, if far from thine.
O drear, drear death, to live without thee,
O sad life -- to keep thee mine.
. . . . .
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 37 sec read
- 114 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | X ABAB CDCD CEXE CFCF |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 684 |
Words | 124 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"To J. D. H." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/34814/to-j.-d.-h.>.
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