Threnody For A Poet

Bliss William Carman 1861 (Fredericton, New Brunswick) – 1929 (New Canaan, Connecticut)



Not in the ancient abbey,
Nor in the city ground,
Not in the lonely mountains,
Nor in the blue profound,
Lay him to rest when his time is come
And the smiling mortal lips are dumb;

But here in the decent quiet
Under the whispering pines,
Where the dogwood breaks in blossom
And the peaceful sunlight shines,
Where wild birds sing and ferns unfold,
When spring comes back in her green and gold.

And when that mortal likeness
Has been dissolved by fire,
Say not above the ashes,
'Here ends a man's desire.'
For every year when the bluebirds sing,
He shall be part of the lyric spring.

Then dreamful-hearted lovers
Shall hear in wind and rain
The cadence of his music,
The rhythm of his refrain,
For he was a blade of the April sod
That bowed and blew with the whisper of God.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 18, 2023

44 sec read
80

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAXABB XCBCDD XEXEFF XGXGHH
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 758
Words 148
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6

Bliss William Carman

William Bliss Carman FRSC (April 15, 1861 – June 8, 1929) was a Canadian poet who lived most of his life in the United States, where he achieved international fame. He was acclaimed as Canada's poet laureate[1] during his later years.[2][3] In Canada, Carman is classed as one of the Confederation Poets more…

All Bliss William Carman poems | Bliss William Carman Books

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