Indeed, Indeed I Cannot Tell

Henry David Thoreau 1817 (Concord) – 1862 (Concord)



Indeed indeed, I cannot tell,
Though I ponder on it well,
Which were easier to state,
All my love or all my hate.
Surely, surely, thou wilt trust me
When I say thou dost disgust me.
O, I hate thee with a hate
That would fain annihilate;
Yet sometimes against my will,
My dear friend, I love thee still.
It were treason to our love,
And a sin to God above,
One iota to abate
Of a pure impartial hate.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 14, 2023

24 sec read
446

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBCCBBDDEEBB
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 407
Words 82
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist. more…

All Henry David Thoreau poems | Henry David Thoreau Books

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