Renaissance



O happy soul, forget thy self!
This that has haunted all the past,
That conjured disappointments fast,
That never could let well alone;
That, climbing to achievement's throne,
Slipped on the last step; this that wove
Dissatisfaction's clinging net,
And ran through life like squandered pelf:--
This that till now has been thy self
Forget, O happy soul, forget.

If ever thou didst aught commence,--
Set'st forth in springtide woods to rove,--
Or, when the sun in July throve,
Didst plunge into calm bay of ocean
With fine felicity in motion,--
Or, having climbed some high hill's brow,
Thy toil behind thee like the night,
Stoodst in the chill dawn's air intense;--
Commence thus now, thus recommence:

Take to the future as to light.
Not as a bather on the shore
Strips of his clothes, glad soul, strip thou:
He throws them off, but folds them now;
Although he for the billows yearns,
To weight them down with stones he turns;
To mark the spot he scans the shore;
Of his return he thinks before.
Do thou forget

All that, until this joy franchised thee,
Tainted thee, stained thee, or disguised thee;
For gladness, henceforth without let,
Be thou a body, naked, fair;
And be thy kingdom all the air
Which the noon fills with light;
And be thine actions every one,
Like to a dawn or set of sun,
Robed in an ample glory's peace;
Since thou hast tasted this great glee
Whose virtue prophesies in thee
That wrong is wholly doomed, is doomed and bound to cease.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:21 min read
44

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBCCDEAAE FDDGGHIFF IJHHKKJJE LLEMMIGGNLLN
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,423
Words 266
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 10, 9, 9, 12

Thomas Sturge Moore

Thomas Sturge Moore was an English poet author and artist He was born on 4 March 1870 and was educated at Dulwich College the Croydon Art School and Lambeth Art School He was a long-term friend and correspondent of W B Yeats He was also a playwright writing a Medea influenced by Yeats drama and the Japanese Noh style Sturge Moore was a prolific poet and his subjects included morality art and the spirit His first pamphlet Two Poems was printed privately in 1893 and his first book of verse The Vinedresser was published in 1899 His love for poetry lead him to become an active member of the Poetry Recital Society His first of 31 plays to be produced was Aphrodite against Artemis 1906 staged by the Literary Theatre Club of which he became a member in 1908 He received a civil list pension in 1920 in recognition for his contribution to literature and in 1930 he was nominated as one of seven candidates for the position of Poet Laureate He died on 18 July 1944 He adopted the name Sturge as a way of avoiding confusion with the poet Thomas Moore more…

All Thomas Sturge Moore poems | Thomas Sturge Moore Books

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