Waikiki

Rupert Brooke 1887 (Rugby) – 1915 (Aegean Sea)



Warm perfumes like a breath from vine and tree
 Drift down the darkness.  Plangent, hidden from eyes
 Somewhere an `eukaleli' thrills and cries
And stabs with pain the night's brown savagery.
And dark scents whisper; and dim waves creep to me,
 Gleam like a woman's hair, stretch out, and rise;
 And new stars burn into the ancient skies,
Over the murmurous soft Hawaian sea.

And I recall, lose, grasp, forget again,
 And still remember, a tale I have heard, or known,
An empty tale, of idleness and pain,
 Of two that loved -- or did not love -- and one
Whose perplexed heart did evil, foolishly,
A long while since, and by some other sea.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 23, 2023

35 sec read
159

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBAABBA XXXXAA
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 635
Words 117
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 6

Rupert Brooke

Rupert Chawner Brooke was an English poet known for his idealistic war sonnets written during the First World War, especially "The Soldier". more…

All Rupert Brooke poems | Rupert Brooke Books

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    "Waikiki" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/33766/waikiki>.

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