'If I were dead'

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



'IF I were dead, you'd sometimes say, Poor Child!'
The dear lips quiver'd as they spake,
And the tears brake
From eyes which, not to grieve me, brightly smiled.
Poor Child, poor Child!
I seem to hear your laugh, your talk, your song.
It is not true that Love will do no wrong.
Poor Child!
And did you think, when you so cried and smiled,
How I, in lonely nights, should lie awake,
And of those words your full avengers make?
Poor Child, poor Child!
And now, unless it be
That sweet amends thrice told are come to thee,
O God, have Thou no mercy upon me!
Poor Child!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

33 sec read
67

Quick analysis:

Scheme abbaAccAabbAdddA
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 573
Words 112
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 16

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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    "'If I were dead'" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/7341/'if-i-were-dead'>.

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