Rural Bliss



The poet is, or ought to be, a hater of the city,
And so, when happiness is mine, and Maud becomes my wife,
We'll look on town inhabitants with sympathetic pity,
For we shall lead a peaceful and serene Arcadian life.
  
Then shall I sing in eloquent and most effective phrases,
The grandeur of geraniums and the beauty of the rose;
Immortalise in deathless strains the buttercups and daisies,
For even I can hardly be mistaken as to those.
  
The music of the nightingale will ring from leafy hollow,
And fill us with a rapture indescribable in words;
And we shall also listen to the robin and the swallow
(I wonder if a swallow sings?) and ... well, the other birds.
  
Too long I dwelt in ignorance of all the countless treasures
Which dwellers in the country have in such abundant store;
To give a single instance of the multitude of pleasures,
The music of the nighting, oh, I mentioned that before.
  
And shall I prune potato-trees and artichokes, I wonder,
And cultivate the silo-plant, which springs (I hope it springs?)
In graceful foliage overhead? Excuse me if I blunder,
It's really inconvenient not to know the name of things!
  
No matter; in the future, when I celebrate the beauty
Of country life in glowing terms, and "build the lofty rhyme"
Aware that every Englishman is bound to do his duty,
I'll learn to give the stupid things their proper names in time!
  
Meanwhile, you needn't wonder at the view I've indicated,
The country life appears to me indubitably blest,
For, even if its other charms are somewhat overstated,
As long as Maud is there, you see, what matters all the rest?
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:28 min read
23

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB XCXC DEDE FGFG HIHI AJAJ XKXK
Closest metre Iambic heptameter
Characters 1,577
Words 289
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Anthony Charles Deane

Anthony Charles Deane (1870–1946) was canon of Worcester Cathedral, poet and writer of religious books. He was the son of H. C. Deane, a barrister-at-law. In 1898, he married Maud, the second daughter of Col. Versturme-Bunbury of Bath. He is perhaps best known as a writer of popular Christian books.  more…

All Anthony Charles Deane poems | Anthony Charles Deane Books

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