A Sea-Shore Grave. To M. J. L.

Sidney Lanier 1842 (Macon) – 1881 (Lynn)



By Sidney and Clifford Lanier.

O wish that's vainer than the plash
 Of these wave-whimsies on the shore:
"Give us a pearl to fill the gash --
 God, let our dead friend live once more!"

O wish that's stronger than the stroke
 Of yelling wave and snapping levin;
"God, lift us o'er the Last Day's smoke,
 All white, to Thee and her in Heaven!"

O wish that's swifter than the race
 Of wave and wind in sea and sky;
Let's take the grave-cloth from her face
 And fall in the grave, and kiss, and die!

Look!  High above a glittering calm
 Of sea and sky and kingly sun,
She shines and smiles, and waves a palm --
 And now we wish -- Thy will be done!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

40 sec read
90

Quick analysis:

Scheme X ABAB CXCD EFEF GDGD
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 636
Words 130
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 1, 4, 4, 4, 4

Sidney Lanier

Sidney Lanier was a poet, writer, composer, critic, professor of literature at Johns Hopkins and first flutist with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra in Baltiimore. He wrote the Centennial cantata for the opening ceremony of the 1876 Centennial celebration in Philadelphia. more…

All Sidney Lanier poems | Sidney Lanier Books

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