You Played And Sang A Snatch Of Song

William Ernest Henley 1849 (Gloucester) – 1903 (Woking)



You played and sang a snatch of song,
A song that all-too well we knew;
But whither had flown the ancient wrong;
And was it really I and you?
O, since the end of life's to live
And pay in pence the common debt,
What should it cost us to forgive
Whose daily task is to forget?

You babbled in the well-known voice -
Not new, not new the words you said.
You touched me off that famous poise,
That old effect, of neck and head.
Dear, was it really you and I?
In truth the riddle's ill to read,
So many are the deaths we die
Before we can be dead indeed.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

35 sec read
115

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABXCXC XDXDEDEX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 542
Words 115
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 8

William Ernest Henley

William Ernest Henley was an English poet, critic and editor, best remembered for his 1875 poem "Invictus". more…

All William Ernest Henley poems | William Ernest Henley Books

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    "You Played And Sang A Snatch Of Song" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/40593/you-played-and-sang-a-snatch-of-song>.

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