Innocence
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
The height of wisdom seems to me
That of a child;
So let my ageing vision be
Serene and mild.
The depth of folly, I aver,
Is to fish deep
In that dark pool of science where
Truth-demons sleep.
Let me not be a bearded sage
Seeing too clear;
In issues of the atom age
Man-doom I fear.
So long as living's outward show
To me is fair,
What lies behind I do not know,
And do not care.
Of woeful fears of future ill
That earth-folk haunt,
Let me, as radiant meadow rill,
Be ignorant.
Aye, though a sorry dunce I be
In learning's school,
Lord, marvellously make of me
Your Happy Fool!
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 29, 2023
- 35 sec read
- 80 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABXCDC EFEFGDGD HXHXAIAI |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 705 |
Words | 116 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8 |
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"Innocence" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/32187/innocence>.
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