Temple de la Douleur

Harry Crosby 1898 (Boston) – 1929 (New York City)



My soul has suffered breaking on the wheel,
Flogging with lead, and felt the twinging ache
Of barbéd hooks and jagged points of steel,
Peine forte et dure, slow burning at the stake,
Blinding and branding, stripping on the rack,
The canque and kourbash and the torquéd screw,
The boot and branks, red scourging on the back,
The gallows and the gibbet. All for you.

These tortures are as nothing to the pain
That I have suffered when you gaze at me
With cold disdainful eyes. You do not deign
To smile or talk or even set me free-
Yet once you let me hold your perfumed hand
And danced with me a stately saraband.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

35 sec read
116

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCDCD EFEFGG
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 609
Words 117
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 6

Harry Crosby

Harry Lillis Crosby III is an American actor, singer, and investment banker. more…

All Harry Crosby poems | Harry Crosby Books

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