Brigid

James Stephens 1882 (Dublin) – 1950




(AFTER THE IRISH)
  
Do not marry, Breed, asthore!
That old man whose head is hoar
As the winter, but instead
Mate with some young curly-head;
He will give to you a child,
He will never leave your side,
And at morning when you wake
Kiss for kiss will give and take.
  
I wish that I had died, I do,
Before I gave my love to you;
Love so lasting that it will
While I live be with you still:
And for it what do I get?
Pain and trouble and regret,
The terrors of the aspen-tree
Which the wind shakes fearfully.
  
If this country could be seen
As it ought - then you had been
Living in a castle grand
With the ladies of the land:
The friend and foe, the gael and gall,
Would be cheering, one and all,
For yourself, and, this is true,
I would be along with you.
  
You promised, 'twas a lie, I see,
When you said you'd come to me
At the sheep-cote; I was there,
And I whistled on the air,
And I gave our settled call -
But you were not there at all!
There was nothing anywhere
But lambs and birds and sunny air
  
When it is dark you pass me by,
And when the sun is in the sky
You pass me also - night or day
You look away, you walk away!
But if you would come to me,
And say the word of courtesy,
I would close the door, and then
I'd never let you out again.
  
But do not marry, Breed, asthore!
That old man; his heart is hoar
As his head is: you can see
Winter gripping at his knee:
His eyes and ears are blear and dim,
How can you expect of him
To see or hear or pleasure you
Half as well as I would do?
  
  
  
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:36 min read
11

Quick analysis:

Scheme X AABBXXCC DDEEFFAE XXGGHHAD IIAAHHAA JJKKIILL AAIIMMDD
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,464
Words 321
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 1, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8

James Stephens

James Stephens was an Irish Republican and the founding member of an originally unnamed revolutionary organisation in Dublin on 17 March 1858, later to become known as the Irish Republican Brotherhood, also referred to as the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood by contemporaries. more…

All James Stephens poems | James Stephens Books

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    "Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe."
    A Shel Silverstein
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