Sonnet 10

Henry Timrod 1828 (Charleston) – 1867 (Columbia)



Were I the poet-laureate of the fairies,
Who in a rose-leaf finds too broad a page;
Or could I, like your beautiful canaries,
Sing with free heart and happy, in a cage;
Perhaps I might within this little space
(As in some Eastern tale, by magic power,
A giant is imprisoned in a flower)
Have told you something with a poet's grace.
But I need wider limits, ampler scope,
A world of freedom for a world of passion,
And even then, the glory of my hope
Would not be uttered in its stateliest fashion;
Yet, lady, when fit language shall have told it,
You'll find one little heart enough to hold it!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

34 sec read
98

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCDDCEFEFGG
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 589
Words 114
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

Henry Timrod

Henry Timrod was an American poet, often called the poet laureate of the Confederacy. more…

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