In Broken Images

Robert Graves 1895 (Wimbledon) – 1985 (Deià)



He is quick, thinking in clear images;
I am slow, thinking in broken images.

He becomes dull, trusting to his clear images;
I become sharp, mistrusting my broken images.

Trusting his images, he assumes their relevance;
Mistrusting my images, I question their relevance.

Assuming their relevance, he assumes the fact;
Questioning their relevance, I question the fact.

When the fact fails him, he questions his senses;
When the fact fails me, I approve my senses.

He continues quick and dull in his clear images;
I continue slow and sharp in my broken images.

He in a new confusion of his understanding;
I in a new understanding of my confusion.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

33 sec read
182

Quick analysis:

Scheme AA AA BB CC DD AA XX
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 644
Words 111
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2

Robert Graves

Robert von Ranke Graves was an English poet, scholar/translator/writer of antiquity specializing in Classical Greece and Rome, novelist and soldier in World War One. more…

All Robert Graves poems | Robert Graves Books

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