Sea Lullaby
Elinor Morton Wylie 1885 (Somerville, New Jersey) – 1928 (New York City, New York)
The old moon is tarnished
With smoke of the flood,
The dead leaves are varnished
With colour like blood.
A treacherous smiler
With teeth white as milk,
A savage beguiler
In sheathings of silk
The sea creeps to pillage,
She leaps on her prey;
A child of the village
Was murdered today.
She came up to meet him
In a smooth golden cloak,
She choked him and beat him
to death, for a joke.
Her bright locks were tangled,
She shouted for joy
With one hand she strangled
A strong little boy.
Now in silence she lingers
Beside him all night
To wash her long fingers
In silvery light.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 12, 2023
- 33 sec read
- 150 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABAB CDCD XCXX EFEF GHGH IJIJ |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 583 |
Words | 111 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"Sea Lullaby" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/10169/sea-lullaby>.
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