Oh say not that my heart is cold
Charles Wolfe 1791 (Dublin) – 1823
Oh say not that my heart is cold
To aught that once could warm it -
That Nature's Form so dear of old
No more has power to charm it;
Or that th' ungenerous world can chill
One glow of fond emotion
For those who made it dearer still,
And shared my wild devotion.
Still oft those solemn scenes I view
In rapt and dreamy sadness;
Oft look on those who loved them too
With Fancy's idle gladness;
Again I longed to view the light
In Nature's features glowing;
Again to tread the mountain's height,
And taste the soul's o'erflowing.
Stern Duty rose, and frowning flung
His leaden chain around me;
With iron look and sullen tongue
He muttered as he bound me -
'The mountain breeze, the boundless heaven,
Unfit for toil the creature;
These for the free alone were given, -
But what have slaves with Nature?'
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 47 sec read
- 147 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABCDCD EFEFGHGH IJIJDKDK |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 784 |
Words | 152 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8 |
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"Oh say not that my heart is cold" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/5508/oh-say-not-that-my-heart-is-cold>.
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