Apollo Laughs
Katharine Lee Bates 1859 (Falmouth) – 1929 (Wellesley)
'APOLLO laughs,' the proverb tells,
Far echo of old oracles,
A Delphic waif, —'Once in the year,
Apollo laughs.' O laughter clear
As sunshine, blithe as golden bells!
What mortal folly parallels
Olympian jest and so impels
To mirth till Heaven's bright charioteer,
Apollo, laughs?
'Tis when the annual critic knells
The death of poetry, while swells
Some faint, fresh wood-note, pioneer
Of music earth shall thrill to hear.
Then at Apollo's infidels
Apollo laughs.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 24, 2023
- 24 sec read
- 105 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | abccaaacDaaceaD |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 460 |
Words | 79 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 15 |
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"Apollo Laughs" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/24846/apollo-laughs>.
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