I Vex Me Not With Brooding on the Years

Thomas Bailey Aldrich 1836 (Portsmouth) – 1907 (Boston)



I vex me not with brooding on the years
That were ere I drew breath; why should I then
Distrust the darkness that may fall again
When life is done? Perchance in other spheres--
Dead planets--I once tasted mortal tears,
And walked as now among a throng of men,
Pondering things that lay beyond my ken,
Questioning death, and solacing my fears.
Offtimes indeed strange sense I have of this,
Vague memories that hold me with a spell,
Touches of unseen lips upon my brow,
Breathing some incommunicable bliss!
In years foregone, O soul, was all not well?
Still lovelier life awaits thee. Fear not thou!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

32 sec read
49

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBACBBADEFDEF
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 605
Words 108
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

Thomas Bailey Aldrich

Thomas Bailey Aldrich was a poet novelist traveler and editor more…

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