Lights Out
Edward Thomas 1878 (London Borough of Lambeth) – 1917 (Pas-de-Calais)
I have come to the borders of sleep,
The unfathomable deep
Forest where all must lose
Their way, however straight,
Or winding, soon or late;
They cannot choose.
Many a road and track
That, since the dawn's first crack,
Up to the forest brink,
Deceived the travellers,
Suddenly now blurs,
And in they sink.
Here love ends,
Despair, ambition ends,
All pleasure and all trouble,
Although most sweet or bitter,
Here ends in sleep that is sweeter
Than tasks most noble.
There is not any book
Or face of dearest look
That I would not turn from now
To go into the unknown
I must enter and leave alone
I know not how.
The tall forest towers;
Its cloudy foliage lowers
Ahead, shelf above shelf;
Its silence I hear and obey
That I may lose my way
And myself.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 42 sec read
- 97 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AABCCB DDEFFE GGHIIH JJKLLK FFMNNM |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 752 |
Words | 141 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
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"Lights Out" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/9863/lights-out>.
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