Detachment
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
As I go forth from fair to mart
With racket ringing,
Who would divine that in my heart
Mad larks are singing.
As I sweet sympathy express,
Lest I should pain them,
The money-mongers cannot guess
How I disdain them.
As I sit at some silly tea
And flirt and flatter
How I abhor society
And female chatter.
As I with wonderment survey
Their peacock dresses,
My mind is wafted far away
To wildernesses.
As I sit in some raucous pub,
Taboo to women,
And treat myself to greasy grub
I feel quite human.
Yet there I dream, despite the din,
Of God's green spaces,
And sweetly dwell the peace within
Of sylvan graces.
And so I wear my daily mask
Of pleasant seeming,
And nobody takes me to task
For distant dreaming;
A happy hypocrite am I
Of ambiance inner,
Who smiling make the same reply
To saint and sinner.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 46 sec read
- 125 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABCDCD EFEFGHGC IJIJKHKX LBLBMFMF |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 779 |
Words | 153 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
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"Detachment" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/32077/detachment>.
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