Question and answer
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson 1832 (Kvikne) – 1910 (Paris)
THE CHILD
Father! Within the forest's bound
No bird I found,
No sound of song the woods around.
THE FATHER
The bird that glad his song us gave,
Flies o'er the wave;
Perhaps he there will find his grave.
THE CHILD
But why does he not wait till later?
THE FATHER
He goes where light and warmth are greater
THE CHILD
Father! It selfish seems to me,
Far off to flee,
When all we others here must be.
THE FATHER
With new-born spring comes new-born song;
By instinct strong
The better new he'll bring erelong.
THE CHILD
But if in death the cold waves swallow-?
THE FATHER
Others will come; his kin will follow.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 04, 2023
- 35 sec read
- 55 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AAA BBB C C DDD EEE F F |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 589 |
Words | 116 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 3, 1, 1, 3, 3, 1, 1 |
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"Question and answer" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/4392/question-and-answer>.
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