Looking-Glass River
Robert Louis Stevenson 1850 (Edinburgh) – 1894 (Vailima, Samoa)
Smooth it glides upon its travel,
Here a wimple, there a gleam--
O the clean gravel!
O the smooth stream!
Sailing blossoms, silver fishes,
Pave pools as clear as air--
How a child wishes
To live down there!
We can see our colored faces
Floating on the shaken pool
Down in cool places,
Dim and very cool;
Till a wind or water wrinkle,
Dipping marten, plumping trout,
Spreads in a twinkle
And blots all out.
See the rings pursue each other;
All below grows black as night,
Just as if mother
Had blown out the light!
Patience, children, just a minute--
See the spreading circles die;
The stream and all in it
Will clear by-and-by.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 35 sec read
- 449 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABAB CDXD CECE AFAF GHGH XIXI |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 635 |
Words | 117 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"Looking-Glass River" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/31630/looking-glass-river>.
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