Nadir
Elinor Morton Wylie 1885 (Somerville, New Jersey) – 1928 (New York City, New York)
If we must cheat ourselves with any dream,
Then let it be a dream of nobleness:
Since it is necessary to express
Gall from black grapes--to sew an endless seam
With a rusty needle--chase a spurious gleam
Narrowing to the nothing through the less--
Since life's no better than a bitter guess,
And love's a stranger--let us change the theme.
Let us at least pretend--it may be true--
That we can close our lips on poisonous
Dark wine diluted by the Stygean wave;
And let me dream sublimity in you,
And courage, liberal for the two of us:
Let us at least pretend we can be brave.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 33 sec read
- 165 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABBAABBA CBDCBD |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 583 |
Words | 109 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 6 |
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"Nadir" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 4 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/10157/nadir>.
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