The Pale Woman
Arthur Symons 1865 (Milford Haven) – 1945
I spoke to the pale and heavy-lidded woman, and said:
O pale and heavy-lidded woman, why is your cheek
Pale as the dead, and what are your eyes afraid lest they speak?
And the woman answered me: I am pale as the dead,
For the dead have loved me, and I dream of the dead.
But I see in the eyes of the living, as a living fire,
The thing that my soul in triumph tells me I have forgot;
And therefore mine eyelids are heavy, and I raise them not,
For always I see in the eyes of men the old desire,
And I fear lest they see that I desire their desire.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 34 sec read
- 71 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABBAA CDDCC |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 548 |
Words | 116 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5 |
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"The Pale Woman" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 7 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/4020/the-pale-woman>.
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