The Lame Brother
Charles Lamb 1775 (Inner Temple, London) – 1834 (Edmonton, London)
My parents sleep both in one grave;
My only friend's a brother.
The dearest things upon the earth
We are to one another.
A fine stout boy I knew him once,
With active form and limb;
Whene'er he leaped, or jumped, or ran,
O I was proud of him!
He leaped too far, he got a hurt,
He now does limping go.-
When I think on his active days,
My heart is full of woe.
He leans on me, when we to school
Do every morning walk;
I cheer him on his weary way,
He loves to hear my talk:
The theme of which is mostly this,
What things he once could do.
He listens pleased-then sadly says,
'Sister, I lean on you.'
Then I reply, 'Indeed you're not
Scarce any weight at all.-
And let us now still younger years
To memory recall.
'Led by your little elder hand,
I learned to walk alone;
Careful you used to be of me,
My little brother John.
'How often, when my young feet tired,
You've carried me a mile!-
And still together we can sit,
And rest a little while.
'For our kind master never minds,
If we're the very last;
He bids us never tire ourselves
With walking on too fast.'
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:06 min read
- 115 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | XAXA XBXB XCXC XDXD XEXE XFXF XXXX XGXG XHXH |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,033 |
Words | 218 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"The Lame Brother" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/5399/the-lame-brother>.
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