Love Abused
William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)
What is there in the vale of life
Half so delighted as a wife,
When friendship, love, and peace combine
To stamp the marriage bond divine?
The stream of pure and genuine love
Derive its current from above;
And earth a second Eden shows,
Where'er the healing water flows;
But ah, if from the dikes and drains
Of sensual Nature's feverish veins,
Lust, like a lawless headstrong flood,
Impregnated with ooze and mud,
Descending fast on every side
Once mingles with the sacred tide,
Farewell the soul-enlivening scene!
The banks that wore a smiling green,
With rank defilement overspread,
Bewail their flowery beauties dead;
The stream polluted, dark, and dull,
Diffused into a Stygian pool,
Through life's last melancholy years
Is fed with overflowing tears,
Complaints supply the zephyr's part,
And sighs that heave a breaking heart.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 42 sec read
- 116 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHFIJKLMNN |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 816 |
Words | 139 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 24 |
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"Love Abused" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 7 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/39916/love-abused>.
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