Worldly Wisdom

Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919



If it were in my dead Past’s power
 To let my Present bask
In some lost pleasure for an hour,
 This is the boon I’d ask:

Re-pedestal from out the dust
 Where long ago ‘twas hurled,
My beautiful incautious trust
 In this unworthy world.

The symbol of my souls own truth
 I saw it go with tears
The sweet unwisdom of my youth
 That vanished with the years.

Since knowledge brings us only grief,
 I would return again
To happy ignorance and belief
 In motives and in men.

For worldly wisdom learned in pain
 Is in itself a cross,
Significant mayhap of gain,
 Yet sign of saddest loss.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

33 sec read
88

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CDCD EXEX FGFG HIHI
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 594
Words 113
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 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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