The Busy Heart
Rupert Brooke 1887 (Rugby) – 1915 (Aegean Sea)
Now that we’ve done our best and worst, and parted,
I would fill my mind with thoughts that will not rend.
(O heart, I do not dare go empty-hearted)
I’ll think of Love in books, Love without end;
Women with child, content; and old men sleeping;
And wet strong ploughlands, scarred for certain grain;
And babes that weep, and so forget their weeping;
And the young heavens, forgetful after rain;
And evening hush, broken by homing wings;
And Song’s nobility, and Wisdom holy,
That live, we dead. I would think of a thousand things,
Lovely and durable, and taste them slowly,
One after one, like tasting a sweet food.
I have need to busy my heart with quietude.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 36 sec read
- 83 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AAABCDCDEFEFGA |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 671 |
Words | 120 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
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"The Busy Heart" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 4 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/33730/the-busy-heart>.
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