At Tarragona
Arthur Symons 1865 (Milford Haven) – 1945
If I could know but when and why
This piece of thoughtless dust begins
To think, and straightway I am I,
And these bright hopes and these brave sins,
That have been freer than the air,
Circle their freedom with my span;
If I could know but why this care
Is mine and not the care or man;
Why, thus unwilling, I rejoice,
And will the good I do not do,
And with the same particular voice
Speak the old folly and the new;
If I could know, seeing my soul
A white ship with a bending sail,
Rudderless, and without a goal,
Fly seaward, humble to the gale,
Why, knowing not from whence I came,
Nor why I seek I know not what,
I bear this heavy, separate name,
While winds and waters bear it not;
And why the unlimited earth delights
In life, not knowing breath from breath,
While I, that count my days and nights,
Fear thought in life, and life in death.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 50 sec read
- 54 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABCDCDEFEFGHGHIJIKLMLM |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 831 |
Words | 168 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 24 |
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"At Tarragona" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/3933/at-tarragona>.
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