Introductory Verses
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
Oh, you who read some song that I have sung –
What know you of the soul from whence it sprung?
Dost dream the poet ever speaks aloud
His secret thought unto the listening crowd?
Go take the murmuring sea-shell from the shore-
You have its shape, its colour – and no more.
It tells not one of those vast mysteries
That lie beneath the surface of the seas.
Our songs are shells, cast out by waves of thought;
Here, take them at your pleasure; but think not
You’ve seen the beneath the surface of the waves,
Where lie our shipwrecks, and our coral caves.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 32 sec read
- 112 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AA BB CC DD XX EE |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 558 |
Words | 107 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 |
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"Introductory Verses" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/10667/introductory-verses>.
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