Durer's 'Melencholia'
Edward Dowden 1843 (Cork) – 1913
THE bow of promise, this lost flaring star,
Terror and hope are in mid-heaven; but She,
The mighty-wing'd crown'd Lady Melancholy,
Heeds not. O to what vision'd goal afar
Does her thought bear those steadfast eyes which are
A torch in darkness? There nor shore nor sea,
Nor ebbing Time vexes Eternity,
Where that lone thought outsoars the mortal bar.
Tools of the brain--the globe, the cube--no more
She deals with; in her hand the compass stays;
Nor those, industrious genius, of her lore
Student and scribe, thou gravest of the fays,
Expect this secret to enlarge thy store;
She moves through incommunicable ways.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 32 sec read
- 92 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABBAABBACDCDCD |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 623 |
Words | 106 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
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"Durer's 'Melencholia'" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/9512/durer's-'melencholia'>.
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