A Retrospect

Coventry Patmore 1823 (Woodford, London) – 1896 (Lymington)



I, trusting that the truly sweet
Would still be sweetly found the true,
Sang, darkling, taught by heavenly heat,
Songs which were wiser than I knew.
To the unintelligible dream
That melted like a gliding star,
I said: ‘We part to meet, fair Gleam!
You are eternal, for you are.’
To Love's strange riddle, fiery writ
In flesh and spirit of all create,
‘Mocker,’ I said, ‘of mortal wit,
Me you shall not mock. I can wait.’

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

24 sec read
410

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCDCDEFEF
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 429
Words 82
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 12

Coventry Patmore

Coventry Kersey Dighton Patmore was an English poet and critic best known for The Angel in the House, his narrative poem about an ideal happy marriage. more…

All Coventry Patmore poems | Coventry Patmore Books

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