The Stream’s Song

Lascelles Abercrombie 1881 (Ashton upon Mersey) – 1938 (London)



Make way, make way,
You thwarting stones;
Room for my play,
Serious ones.

Do you not fear,
O rocks and boulders,
To feel my laughter
On your broad shoulders?

So you not know
My joy at length
Will all wear out
Your solemn strength?

You will not for ever
Cumber my play:
With joy and son
I clear my way.

Your faith of rock
Shall yield to me,
And be carried away
By the song of my glee.

Crumble, crumble,
Voiceless things;
No faith can last
That never sings.

For the last hour
To joy belongs:
The steadfast perish,
But not the songs.

Yet for a while
Thwart me, O boulders;
I need for laugher
Your serious shoulders.

And when my singing
Has razed your quite,
I shall have lost
Half my delight.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

40 sec read
109

Quick analysis:

Scheme AXAX XBCB XDXD CAXA XEAE XFXF CGXG XBCB XHXH
Closest metre Iambic dimeter
Characters 662
Words 135
Stanzas 9
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Lascelles Abercrombie

Lascelles Abercrombie was a British poet and literary critic, one of the "Dymock poets". more…

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