Second Nature
Edith Nesbit 1858 (Kennington, Surrey ) – 1924 (New Romney, Kent)
WHEN I was young how fair the skies,
Such folly of cloud, such blue depths wise,
Such dews of morn, such calms of eve,
So many the lure and the reprieve--
Life seemed a toy to break and mend
And make a charm of in the end.
Then slowly all the dew dried up
And only dust lay in the cup;
And since, to slake his thirst, man must,
I sought a cup that had no dust,
And found it at the Goat and Vine--
Mingled of brandy, beer and wine.
The goat-cup, straight, drew down the skies
And lit them in lunatick wise:
What had been rose went scarlet red,
And the pearl tints grew like the dead.
And the fresh primrose of the morn
Was the wet red of rain-spoiled corn.
Now, with a head that aches and nods
I hold weak hands out to the gods;
And oh! forgiving gods and kind,
They give me healing to my mind,
And show me once again the lawn
Green and clear-gemmed with dews of dawn.
O gods, who look down from above
Upon our tangle of lust and love,
And, in your purity, perceive
The worth of what our follies leave:
Give us but this, and sink the rest--
To know that dew and dawn are best.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:06 min read
- 38 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AABBCC DDEEFF AAGGHH IIJJKK LLBBMM |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,054 |
Words | 220 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
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"Second Nature" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/8902/second-nature>.
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