The Onward Course
Richard Chenevix Trench 1807 (Dublin) – 1886 (Eaton Square)
Our course is onward, onward into light:
What though the darkness gathereth amain,
Yet to return or tarry both are vain.
How tarry, when around us is thick night?
Whither return? what flower yet ever might,
In days of gloom and cold and stormy rain,
Enclose itself in its green bud again,
Hiding from wrath of tempest out of sight?
Courage--we travel through a darksome cave;
But still as nearer to the light we draw,
Fresh gales will reach us from the upper air
And wholesome dews of heaven our foreheads lave,
The darkness lighten more, till full of awe
We stand in the open sunshine unaware.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 32 sec read
- 59 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABBAABBA CXDCXD |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 602 |
Words | 109 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 6 |
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"The Onward Course" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 2 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/30034/the-onward-course>.
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