The Princess: A Medley: Tears, Idle Tears
Alfred Lord Tennyson 1809 – 1892
Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,
Tears from the depth of some divine despair
Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,
In looking on the happy Autumn-fields,
And thinking of the days that are no more.
Fresh as the first beam glittering on a sail,
That brings our friends up from the underworld,
Sad as the last which reddens over one
That sinks with all we love below the verge;
So sad, so fresh, the days that are no more.
Ah, sad and strange as in dark summer dawns
The earliest pipe of half-awaken'd birds
To dying ears, when unto dying eyes
The casement slowly grows a summering square;
So sad, so strange, the days that are no more.
Dear as remember'd kisses after death,
And sweet as those by hopeless fancy feign'd
On lips that are for others; deep as love,
Deep as first love, and wild with all regret;
O Death in Life, the days that are no more!
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 22, 2023
- 51 sec read
- 154 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | XABXCXXXXC XXBAC XXXXC |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 934 |
Words | 168 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 5, 5 |
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"The Princess: A Medley: Tears, Idle Tears" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/1113/the-princess:-a-medley:-tears,-idle-tears>.
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