Clock Striking

Charles Lamb 1775 (Inner Temple, London) – 1834 (Edmonton, London)



Did I hear the church-clock a few minutes ago,
I was asked, and I answered, I hardly did know,
But I thought that I heard it strike three.
Said my friend then, 'The blessings we always possess
We know not the want of, and prize them the less;
The church-clock was no new sound to thee.

'A young woman, afflicted with deafness a year,
By that sound you scarce heard, first perceived she could hear;
I was near her, and saw the girl start
With such exquisite wonder, such feelings of pride,
A happiness almost to terror allied,
She showed the sound went to her heart.'

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 08, 2023

32 sec read
88

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABCCB XXDEED
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 563
Words 109
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 6, 6

Charles Lamb

Charles Lamb was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his Essays of Elia and for the children's book Tales from Shakespeare, co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764–1847). Friends with such literary luminaries as Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Robert Southey, William Wordsworth, and William Hazlitt, Lamb was at the centre of a major literary circle in England. He has been referred to by E. V. Lucas, his principal biographer, as "the most lovable figure in English literature". more…

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