Thy Better Self

Jones Very 1813 (Salem) – 1880



I AM thy other self, what thou wilt be,
When thou art I, the one seest now;
In finding thy true self thou wilt find me,
The springing blade, where now thou dost but plough.
I am thy neighbor, a new house I've built,
Which thou as yet hast never entered in;
I come to call thee; come in when thou wilt,
The feast is always ready to begin.
Thou should'st love me, as thou dost love thyself,
For I am but another self beside;
To show thee him thou lov'st in better health,
What thou would'st be, when thou to him hast died;
Then visit me, I make thee many a call;
Nor live I near to thee alone, but all.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

38 sec read
52

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCDCDEFGFHH
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 608
Words 124
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

Jones Very

Jones Very was an American poet, essayist, clergymen, and mystic associated with the American Transcendentalism movement. more…

All Jones Very poems | Jones Very Books

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