Youth’s End
Marjorie Lowry Christie Pickthall 1883 (Gunnersbury, London) – 1922 (Vancouver)
I HAVE held my life too high,
Spring and harvest, love and laughter, smile and sigh.
I should have held it lightly, like a young leaf rent in haste
From the willow in the waste.
A moment in my fingers; then it fluttered, then it fled,
A little flame of red,
To the God-beholding desert where the soundless years go by,–
I have held my life too high.
I have held my death too dear,
Shame or honour, peace or peril, pride or fear.
I should have held it softly, as the little cloud that flies
When the heron takes the skies.
I should have held it kindly as a passing whisper,–'Friend,
Here's the end,
Here the silver cord is loosened and the bowl is broken here,'–
But I held my death too dear.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 42 sec read
- 74 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AabbccaA ddeebxxd |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 690 |
Words | 139 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8 |
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"Youth’s End" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/26480/youth’s-end>.
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