Sorrow

Algernon Charles Swinburne 1837 (London) – 1909 (London)



SORROW, on wing through the world for ever,
Here and there for awhile would borrow
Rest, if rest might haply deliver
            Sorrow.

One thought lies close in her heart gnawn thorough
With pain, a weed in a dried-up river,
A rust-red share in an empty furrow.

Hearts that strain at her chain would sever
The link where yesterday frets to-morrow:
All things pass in the world, but never
            Sorrow.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

21 sec read
344

Quick analysis:

Scheme abaB bab abaB
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 407
Words 71
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 3, 4

Algernon Charles Swinburne

Algernon Charles Swinburne was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He wrote several novels and collections of poetry such as Poems and Ballads, and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Swinburne wrote about many taboo topics, such as lesbianism, cannibalism, sado-masochism, and anti-theism. His poems have many common motifs, such as the ocean, time, and death. Several historical people are featured in his poems, such as Sappho ("Sapphics"), Anactoria ("Anactoria"), Jesus ("Hymn to Proserpine": Galilaee, La. "Galilean") and Catullus ("To Catullus"). more…

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