I am the Reaper
William Ernest Henley 1849 (Gloucester) – 1903 (Woking)
I am the Reaper.
All things with heedful hook
Silent I gather.
Pale roses touched with the spring,
Tall corn in summer,
Fruits rich with autumn, and frail winter blossoms—
Reaping, still reaping—
All things with heedful hook
Timely I gather.
I am the Sower.
All the unbodied life
Runs through my seed-sheet.
Atom with atom wed,
Each quickening the other,
Fall through my hands, ever changing, still changeless.
Ceaselessly sowing,
Life, incorruptible life,
Flows from my seed-sheet.
Maker and breaker,
I am the ebb and the flood,
Here and Hereafter,
Sped through the tangle and coil
Of infinite nature,
Viewless and soundless I fashion all being.
Taker and giver,
I am the womb and the grave,
The Now and the Ever
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 13, 2023
- 37 sec read
- 73 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | aBacadcBa aefxadcef axaxacaxa |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 790 |
Words | 124 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 9, 9 |
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"I am the Reaper" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/40480/i-am-the-reaper>.
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