Mimnermus in Church
William Johnson Cory 1823 (Great Torrington) – 1892 (Hampstead)
You promise heavens free from strife,
Pure truth, and perfect change of will;
But sweet, sweet is this human life,
So sweet, I fain would breathe it still;
Your chilly stars I can forgo,
This warm kind world is all I know.
You say there is no substance here,
One great reality above:
Back from that void I shrink in fear,
And child-like hide myself in love:
Show me what angels feel. Till then
I cling, a mere weak man, to men.
You bid me lift my mean desires
From faltering lips and fitful veins
To sexless souls, ideal quires,
Unwearied voices, wordless strains:
My mind with fonder welcome owns
One dear dead friend's remember'd tones.
Forsooth the present we must give
To that which cannot pass away;
All beauteous things for which we live
By laws of time and space decay.
But O, the very reason why
I clasp them, is because they die.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 47 sec read
- 74 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABCC XDXDEE FGFGHH XIXIJJ |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 845 |
Words | 157 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6 |
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"Mimnermus in Church" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/40825/mimnermus-in-church>.
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