To A Lady Asking Foolish Questions



Why am I sorry, Chloe? Because the moon is far:
And who am I to be straitened in a little earthly star?

Because thy face is fair? And what if it had not been,
The fairest face of all is the face I have not seen.

Because the land is cold, and however I scheme and plot,
I cannot find a ferry to the land where I am not.

Because thy lips are red and thy breasts upbraid the snow?
(There is neither white nor red in the pleasance where I go.)

Because thy lips grow pale and thy breasts grow dun and fall?
I go where the wind blows, Chloe, and am not sorry at all.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
88

Quick analysis:

Scheme AA XX BB CC DD
Closest metre Iambic heptameter
Characters 559
Words 120
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 2, 2, 2, 2, 2

Ernest Christopher Dowson

Ernest Christopher Dowson was born in 1867 at Lea in Kent England he was an English poet novelist and writer of short stories associated with the Decadent movement Most of his life was spent in France more…

All Ernest Christopher Dowson poems | Ernest Christopher Dowson Books

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    "To A Lady Asking Foolish Questions" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/12819/to-a-lady-asking-foolish-questions>.

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