The Wisdom Of Eld
George Meredith 1828 (Portsmouth, Hampshire) – 1909 (Box Hill, Surrey)
We spend our lives in learning pilotage,
And grow good steersmen when the vessel's crank!
Gap-toothed he spake, and with a tottering shank
Sidled to gain the sunny bench of Age.
It is the sentence which completes that stage;
A testament of wisdom reading blank.
The seniors of the race, on their last plank,
Pass mumbling it as nature's final page.
These, bent by such experience, are the band
Who captain young enthusiasts to maintain
What things we view, and Earth's decree withstand,
Lest dreaded Change, long dammed by dull decay,
Should bring the world a vessel steered by brain,
And ancients musical at close of day.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 33 sec read
- 26 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABBAABBACDCEDE |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 617 |
Words | 109 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
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"The Wisdom Of Eld" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/15674/the-wisdom-of-eld>.
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