'Fire and Sleet and Candlelight'

Elinor Morton Wylie 1885 (Somerville, New Jersey) – 1928 (New York City, New York)



For this you've striven
Daring, to fail:
Your sky is riven
Like a tearing veil.

For this, you've wasted
Wings of your youth;
Divined, and tasted
Bitter springs of truth.

From sand unslakèd
Twisted strong cords,
And wandering naked
Among trysted swords.

There's a word unspoken,
A knot untied.
Whatever is broken
The earth may hide.

The road was jagged
Over sharp stones:
Your body's too ragged
To cover your bones.

The wind scatters
Tears upon dust;
Your soul's in tatters
Where the spears thrust.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

27 sec read
95

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CDCD XECE AFAF XGCG EHXH
Closest metre Iambic dimeter
Characters 501
Words 87
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Elinor Morton Wylie

Elinor Morton Wylie was an American poet and novelist popular in the 1920s and 1930s. "She was famous during her life almost as much for her ethereal beauty and personality as for her melodious, sensuous poetry." more…

All Elinor Morton Wylie poems | Elinor Morton Wylie Books

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    "'Fire and Sleet and Candlelight'" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/10151/'fire-and-sleet-and-candlelight'>.

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