The Elder's Rebuke
Emily Jane Brontë 1818 (Thornton) – 1848 (Haworth)
'Listen! When your hair, like mine,
Takes a tint of silver gray;
When your eyes, with dimmer shine,
Watch life's bubbles float away:
When you, young man, have borne like me
The weary weight of sixty-three,
Then shall penance sore be paid
For those hours so wildly squandered;
And the words that now fall dead
On your ear, be deeply pondered—
Pondered and approved at last:
But their virtue will be past!
'Glorious is the prize of Duty,
Though she be 'a serious power';
Treacherous all the lures of Beauty,
Thorny bud and poisonous flower!
'Mirth is but a mad beguiling
Of the golden-gifted time;
Love—a demon-meteor, wiling
Heedless feet to gulfs of crime.
'Those who follow earthly pleasure,
Heavenly knowledge will not lead;
Wisdom hides from them her treasure,
Virtue bids them evil-speed!
'Vainly may their hearts repenting.
Seek for aid in future years;
Wisdom, scorned, knows no relenting;
Virtue is not won by fears.'
Thus spake the ice-blooded elder gray;
The young man scoffed as he turned away,
Turned to the call of a sweet lute's measure,
Waked by the lightsome touch of pleasure:
Had he ne'er met a gentler teacher,
Woe had been wrought by that pitiless preacher.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:01 min read
- 78 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABAB CCXDEDFF CGCG HIHI GEGX HJHJ BBGGGG |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,163 |
Words | 204 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 8, 4, 4, 4, 4, 6 |
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"The Elder's Rebuke" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/12538/the-elder's-rebuke>.
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