Duddingstone

Robert Louis Stevenson 1850 (Edinburgh) – 1894 (Vailima, Samoa)



WITH caws and chirrupings, the woods
In this thin sun rejoice.
The Psalm seems but the little kirk
That sings with its own voice.

The cloud-rifts share their amber light
With the surface of the mere -
I think the very stones are glad
To feel each other near.

Once more my whole heart leaps and swells
And gushes o'er with glee;
The fingers of the sun and shade
Touch music stops in me.

Now fancy paints that bygone day
When you were here, my fair -
The whole lake rang with rapid skates
In the windless winter air.

You leaned to me, I leaned to you,
Our course was smooth as flight -
We steered - a heel-touch to the left,
A heel-touch to the right.

We swung our way through flying men,
Your hand lay fast in mine:
We saw the shifting crowd dispart,
The level ice-reach shine.

I swear by yon swan-travelled lake,
By yon calm hill above,
I swear had we been drowned that day
We had been drowned in love.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

53 sec read
69

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAXA BCXC XDXD EFXF XBXB XGBG XHEH
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 883
Words 177
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer. more…

All Robert Louis Stevenson poems | Robert Louis Stevenson Books

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