The Birth Of The Opal

Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919



The Sunbeam loved the Moonbeam,
 And followed her low and high,
But Moonbeam fled and hid her head,
 She was so shy – so shy.

The Sunbeam wooed with passion;
 Ah, he was a lover bold!
And his heart was afire with mad desire
 For the moonbeam pale and cold.

She fled like a dream before him,
 Her hair was a shining sheen,
And oh, that Fate would annihilate
 The space that lay between!

Just as the day lay panting
 In the arms of the twilight dim,
The Sunbeam caught the one he sought
 And drew her close to him.

But out of his warm arms, startled
 And stirred by Love’s first shock,
She sprang afraid, like a trembling maid,
 And hid in the niche of a rock.

And the Sunbeam followed and found her
 And led her to Love’s own feast;
And they were wed on that rocky bed,
 And the dying day was priest.

And lo! the beautiful Opal –
 That rare and wondrous gem –
Where the moon and the sun blend into one,
 Is the child that was born to them.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

56 sec read
120

Quick analysis:

Scheme XABA CDED FGXG XFXF XHXH EIBI XJCJ
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 943
Words 187
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Ella Wheeler Wilcox was an American author and poet. more…

All Ella Wheeler Wilcox poems | Ella Wheeler Wilcox Books

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