David’s Child
Dinah Maria Mulock Craik 1826 (Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire) – 1887 (Shortlands, London)
IN face of a great sorrow like to death
How do we wrestle night and day with tears;
How do we fast and pray; how small appears
The outside world, while, hanging on some breath
Of fragile hope, the chamber where we lie
Includes all space.--But if sudden at last
The blow falls; or by incredulity
Fond led, we--never having one thought cast
Towards years where 'the child' was not--see it die,
And with it all our future, all our past,--
We just look round us with a dull surprise:
For lesser pangs we had filled earth with cries
Of wild and angry grief that would be heard:--
But when the heart is broken--not a word.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 36 sec read
- 111 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABCADEFEDEGGHH |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 624 |
Words | 121 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
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"David’s Child" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/8005/david’s-child>.
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