Sadness and Joy
William Henry Davies 1871 – 1940
I pray you, Sadness, leave me soon,
In sweet invention thou art poor!
Thy sister, Joy can make ten songs
While thou art making four.
One hour with thee is sweet enough;
But when we find the whole day gone
And no created thing is left --
We mourn the evil done.
Thou art too slow to shape thy thoughts
In stone, on canvas, or in song;
But Joy, being full of active heat,
Must do some deed ere long.
Thy sighs are gentle, sweet thy tears;
But if thou canst not help a man
To prove in substance what he feels --
Then givve me Joy, who can.
Therefore sweet Sadness, leave me soon,
Let thy bright sister, Joy, come more;
For she can make ten lovely songs
While thou art making four.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 30, 2023
- 40 sec read
- 157 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | axbC xxxx xdxd xexe acbC |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 681 |
Words | 136 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"Sadness and Joy" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/40658/sadness-and-joy>.
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