I Didn’t Win Light In A Windfall
Hayyim Nahman Bialik 1873 (Ivnitsa, Volhynian Governorate) – 1934 (Vienna)
I didn’t win light in a windfall,
nor by deed of a father’s will.
I hewed my light from granite.
I quarried my heart.
In the mine of my heart a spark hides –
not large, but wholly my own.
Neither hired, nor borrowed, nor stolen –
my very own.
Sorrow wields huge hammer blows,
the rock of endurance cracks
blinding my eye with flashes
I catch in verse.
They fly from my lines to your breast
to vanish in kindled flame.
While I, with heart’s blood and marrow
pay the price of the blaze.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 27, 2023
- 29 sec read
- 100 Views
Quick analysis:
| Scheme | XXXX XAXA XXXX XXXX |
|---|---|
| Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
| Characters | 487 |
| Words | 97 |
| Stanzas | 4 |
| Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"I Didn’t Win Light In A Windfall" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/17026/i-didn’t-win-light-in-a-windfall>.
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