Motes In The Sunbeams

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



The motes up and down in the sun
Ever restlessly moving we see;
Whereas the great mountains stand still,
Unless terrible earthquakes there be.

If these atoms that move up and down
Were as useful as restless they are,
Than a mountain I rather would be
A mote in the sunbeam so fair.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

16 sec read
98

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAXA XXAX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 282
Words 55
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 4, 4

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…

All Charles Lamb poems | Charles Lamb Books

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