John Marston: XII
Algernon Charles Swinburne 1837 (London) – 1909 (London)
THE BITTERNESS of death and bitterer scorn
Breathes from the broad-leafed aloe-plant whence thou
Wast fain to gather for thy bended brow
A chaplet by no gentler forehead worn.
Grief deep as hell, wrath hardly to be borne,
Ploughed up thy soul till round the furrowing plough
The strange black soil foamed, as a black beaked prow
Bids night-black waves foam where its track has torn.
Too faint the phrase for thee that only saith
Scorn bitterer than the bitterness of death
Pervades the sullen splendour of thy soul,
Where hate and pain make war on force and fraud
And all the strengths of tyrants; whence unflawed
It keeps this noble heart of hatred whole.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 35 sec read
- 135 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABBAABBABCDEED |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 651 |
Words | 117 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
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"John Marston: XII" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/1345/john-marston:-xii>.
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