Can life be a blessing

John Dryden 1631 (Aldwincle) – 1631 (London)



Can life be a blessing,
   Or worth the possessing,
   Can life be a blessing if love were away?
   Ah no! though our love all night keep us waking,
   And though he torment us with cares all the day,
   Yet he sweetens, he sweetens our pains in the taking,
   There's an hour at the last, there's an hour to repay.

   In ev'ry possessing,
   The ravishing blessing,
  In ev'ry possessing the fruit of our pain,
  Poor lovers forget long ages of anguish,
  Whate'er they have suffer'd and done to obtain;
  'Tis a pleasure, a pleasure to sigh and to languish,
  When we hope, when we hope to be happy again.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 15, 2023

34 sec read
208

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABABAB AACDCDX
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 603
Words 110
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 7, 7

John Dryden

John Dryden was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who was made Poet Laureate in 1668. more…

All John Dryden poems | John Dryden Books

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