In Absence
Edith Nesbit 1858 (Kennington, Surrey ) – 1924 (New Romney, Kent)
WAKE, do you wake in the dark in the strange far place,
Window and door not set like the ones we knew,
Leaning your face through the dark for another face,
Stretching your arms to the arms that are far from you,
Even as I, through the depth of this darkness, do?
Sleep, do you sleep in the house in the lonely land?
In the lonely room do you hear no steps draw near?
Do you miss in the darkness the hand that implores your hand,
See through the darkness your last dream disappear,
And weep, as I weep, in the outer darkness here?
Dream, do you dream? Nay, never a dream will stay,
Never a phantom is fond, or a vision kind.
Your dreams elude you and fly through the dark my way,
My dreams fly forth to you whom they may not find;
And we in the darkness weep, we weep and are left behind.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 47 sec read
- 102 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABB CDCDX EFEFF |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 781 |
Words | 159 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5 |
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"In Absence" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/8836/in-absence>.
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