A Birthday Trifle
Henry Kendall 1839 (Australia) – 1882 (Sydney)
Here in this gold-green evening end,
While air is soft and sky is clear,
What tender message shall I send
To her I hold so dear?
What rose of song with breath like myrrh,
And leaf of dew and fair pure beams
Shall I select and give to her—
The lady of my dreams?
Alas! the blossom I would take,
The song as sweet as Persian speech,
And carry for my lady’s sake,
Is not within my reach.
I have no perfect gift of words,
Or I would hasten now to send
A ballad full of tunes of birds
To please my lovely friend.
But this pure pleasure is my own,
That I have power to waft away
A hope as bright as heaven’s zone
On this her natal day.
May all her life be like the light
That softens down in spheres divine,
“As lovely as a Lapland night,”
All grace and chastened shine!
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 47 sec read
- 81 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABCDCDEFEFGAGA HIHIJKJK |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 761 |
Words | 158 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 16, 8 |
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"A Birthday Trifle" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/17426/a-birthday-trifle>.
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