Dear Heart, Why Will You Use Me So?

James Joyce 1882 (Rathgar) – 1941 (Zürich)



Dear heart, why will you use me so?
Dear eyes that gently me upbraid,
Still are you beautiful -- - but O,
How is your beauty raimented!

Through the clear mirror of your eyes,
Through the soft sigh of kiss to kiss,
Desolate winds assail with cries
The shadowy garden where love is.

And soon shall love dissolved be
When over us the wild winds blow -- -
But you, dear love, too dear to me,
Alas! why will you use me so?

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 20, 2023

25 sec read
382

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CXCX DADA
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 425
Words 85
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4

James Joyce

ames Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century.  more…

All James Joyce poems | James Joyce Books

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    "Dear Heart, Why Will You Use Me So?" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/20160/dear-heart,-why-will-you-use-me-so?>.

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