The Death Of The Rose

Wilfrid Scawen Blunt 1840 (Petworth House) – 1922 (United Kingdom)



Ah! life, dear life, thy summer days have flown
Swiftly yet all too late, for they did wither.
Joy should be joy for one short hour alone,
Or it will lose its loveliness for ever.

I did not spare to use the cruel knife,
But cut the rose as soon as it was day,
And gave it to my love. Its little life
Passed, like a sigh, from Nature's breast away.

Full--hearted flower, thou didst not shrink nor flee
When the steel touched thee. No sad memories
Made what thou knew not terrible to thee,
And death came on thee like a sad surprise.

Too happy flower! I would my love had died
At unawares, by such a death as thine.
I should have slain my love in its full pride,
So had it lived and been for ever mine,

A treasure for all joy to ponder on,
Laid up for aye in old Time's palaces,
A ``thing of beauty'' which my soul had won,
And death had made undying with a kiss.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 15, 2023

53 sec read
54

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CDCD EXEX FGFG XXXX
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 850
Words 175
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Wilfrid Scawen Blunt

Wilfrid Scawen Blunt was an English poet and writer. more…

All Wilfrid Scawen Blunt poems | Wilfrid Scawen Blunt Books

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