On The Moon
Jonathan Swift 1667 (Dublin) – 1745 (Ireland)
I with borrow'd silver shine
What you see is none of mine.
First I show you but a quarter,
Like the bow that guards the Tartar:
Then the half, and then the whole,
Ever dancing round the pole.
What will raise your admiration,
I am not one of God's creation,
But sprung, (and I this truth maintain,)
Like Pallas, from my father's brain.
And after all, I chiefly owe
My beauty to the shades below.
Most wondrous forms you see me wear,
A man, a woman, lion, bear,
A fish, a fowl, a cloud, a field,
All figures Heaven or earth can yield;
Like Daphne sometimes in a tree;
Yet am not one of all you see.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 36 sec read
- 98 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AABBCC DDEEFFGGHHII |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 587 |
Words | 120 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 12 |
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"On The Moon" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 17 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/24301/on-the-moon>.
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