I am the Reaper

William Ernest Henley 1849 (Gloucester) – 1903 (Woking)



I am the Reaper.  
 All things with heedful hook  
Silent I gather.  
Pale roses touched with the spring,  
Tall corn in summer,          
Fruits rich with autumn, and frail winter blossoms—  
Reaping, still reaping—  
All things with heedful hook  
Timely I gather.  
 
I am the Sower.         
All the unbodied life  
Runs through my seed-sheet.  
Atom with atom wed,  
Each quickening the other,  
Fall through my hands, ever changing, still changeless.         
Ceaselessly sowing,  
Life, incorruptible life,  
Flows from my seed-sheet.  
 
Maker and breaker,  
I am the ebb and the flood,         
Here and Hereafter,  
Sped through the tangle and coil  
Of infinite nature,  
Viewless and soundless I fashion all being.  
Taker and giver,         
I am the womb and the grave,  
The Now and the Ever

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 13, 2023

37 sec read
73

Quick analysis:

Scheme aBacadcBa aefxadcef axaxacaxa
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 790
Words 124
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 9, 9, 9

William Ernest Henley

William Ernest Henley was an English poet, critic and editor, best remembered for his 1875 poem "Invictus". more…

All William Ernest Henley poems | William Ernest Henley Books

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    "I am the Reaper" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/40480/i-am-the-reaper>.

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