From the Hymn of Empedocles
Matthew Arnold 1822 (Laleham) – 1888 (Liverpool)
IS it so small a thing
To have enjoy'd the sun,
To have lived light in the spring,
To have loved, to have thought, to have done;
To have advanced true friends, and beat down baffling foes;
That we must feign a bliss
Of doubtful future date,
And while we dream on this
Lose all our present state,
And relegate to worlds yet distant our repose?
Not much, I know, you prize
What pleasures may be had,
Who look on life with eyes
Estranged, like mine, and sad:
And yet the village churl feels the truth more than you;
Who 's loth to leave this life
Which to him little yields:
His hard-task'd sunburnt wife,
His often-labour'd fields;
The boors with whom he talk'd, the country spots he knew.
But thou, because thou hear'st
Men scoff at Heaven and Fate;
Because the gods thou fear'st
Fail to make blest thy state,
Tremblest, and wilt not dare to trust the joys there are.
I say, Fear not! life still
Leaves human effort scope.
But, since life teems with ill,
Nurse no extravagant hope.
Because thou must not dream, thou need'st not then despair.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:00 min read
- 104 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABC DEDEC FGFGH IJIJH KEKEX LMLMX |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,305 |
Words | 194 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |
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"From the Hymn of Empedocles" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/27259/from-the-hymn-of-empedocles>.
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