In The Underworld

Isaac Rosenberg 1890 (Bristol) – 1918 (Somme)



I have lived in the underworld so long:
How can you, a creature of light,
Without terror understand the song
And unmoved hear what moves in night?

I am a spirit that yours has found,
Strange, undelightful, obscure,
Created by some other God, and bound
In terrible darkness, breathing breath impure.

Creature of light and happiness,
Deeper the darkness was when you,
With your bright terror eddying the distress,
Grazed the dark waves and shivering further flew.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 15, 2023

23 sec read
364

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CDCD XEXE
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 459
Words 79
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4

Isaac Rosenberg

Isaac Rosenberg was an English poet of the First World War. more…

All Isaac Rosenberg poems | Isaac Rosenberg Books

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