Expectans Expectavi

Charles Hamilton Sorley 1895 (Aberdeen) – 1915 (Hulluch, Lens)



From morn to midnight, all day through,
I laugh and play as others do,
I sin and chatter, just the same
As others with a different name.

And all year long upon the stage
I dance and tumble and do rage
So vehemently, I scarcely see
The inner and eternal me.

I have a temple I do not
Visit, a heart I have forgot,
A self that I have never met,
A secret shrine -- and yet, and yet

This sanctuary of my soul
Unwitting I keep white and whole,
Unlatched and lit, if Thou should'st care
To enter or to tarry there.

With parted lips and outstretched hands
And listening ears Thy servant stands,
Call Thou early, call Thou late,
To Thy great service dedicate.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

38 sec read
95

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABB CCDD EEFF GGHH IIJJ
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 639
Words 128
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Charles Hamilton Sorley

Captain Charles Hamilton Sorley was a British Army officer and Scottish war poet who fought in the First World War, in which he was killed in action during the Battle of Loos in October 1915. more…

All Charles Hamilton Sorley poems | Charles Hamilton Sorley Books

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