Tranquilism



I call myself a Tranquilist;
With deep detachment I exist,
                                    From friction free;
While others court the gilded throng
And worship Women, Wine and Song,
                                    I scorn the three.
For I have reached the sober age
When I prefer to turn a page
                                    Beside the fire,
And from the busy mart of men
To meditative book and pen
                                    With grace retire.

If you are craving peace of mind,
In Tranquilism you will find
                                    Philosophy;
Serenely fold your hands and wait
Be cloistered calm whatever fate
                                    The Gods decree.
And though the world with rage be rent,
Hold it remote and claim content
                                    With quiet heart;
You can't do much to better it,
But your good-will may help a bit,
                                    Ere you depart.

So let us who are old and sere
To din of battle shut the ear,
                                    And trumpet vain;
And though in no monastic mood
Accept the balm of solitude
                                    And grace regain.
Let us be Tranquilists and try
In placid places to apply
                                    Life's wisdom won;
In Nature's bounty we may bless
The Gods and wait with thankfulness
                                    Our setting sun.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

56 sec read
60

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABCCBDDXEEX AABAABAAAAAA XXFAAFGGHIIH
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,379
Words 185
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 12, 12, 12

Robert William Service

Robert William Service was a poet and writer sometimes referred to as the Bard of the Yukon He is best-known for his writings on the Canadian North including the poems The Shooting of Dan McGrew The Law of the Yukon and The Cremation of Sam McGee His writing was so expressive that his readers took him for a hard-bitten old Klondike prospector not the later-arriving bank clerk he actually was Robert William Service was born 16 January 1874 in Preston England but also lived in Scotland before emigrating to Canada in 1894 Service went to the Yukon Territory in 1904 as a bank clerk and became famous for his poems about this region which are mostly in his first two books of poetry He wrote quite a bit of prose as well and worked as a reporter for some time but those writings are not nearly as well known as his poems He travelled around the world quite a bit and narrowly escaped from France at the beginning of the Second World War during which time he lived in Hollywood California He died 11 September 1958 in France Incidentally he played himself in a movie called The Spoilers starring John Wayne and Marlene Dietrich more…

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