An Hour's Respite

Christopher John Brennan 1870 (Haymarket, New South Wales) – 1932 (Lewisham, New South Wales)



An hour's respite; once more the heart may dream:
the thunderwheels of passion thro' the eve,
distantly musical, vaporously agleam,
about my old pain leave
nought but a soft enchantment, vesper fable.
Sweet hour of dream! from the tense height of life
given back to this dear grass and perfumed shade,
across the golden darkness
I feel the simple flowerets where we stray'd
in the clear eves unmix'd with starry strife.
Ah! wilt thou not even now arise,
low-laughing child haunting my old spring ways
and blossom freshly on my freshen'd gaze,
sororal in this hour of tenderness,
an hour of happy hands and clinging eyes —
on silent heartstrings
sweet memory fades in sweet forgetfulness.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
82

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCDEFEDGHHFGFF
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 697
Words 118
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 17

Christopher John Brennan

Christopher John Brennan was an Australian poet, scholar and literary critic. more…

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