Rondel
Algernon Charles Swinburne 1837 (London) – 1909 (London)
THESE many years since we began to be,
What have the gods done with us? what with me,
What with my love? they have shown me fates and fears,
Harsh springs, and fountains bitterer than the sea,
Grief a fixed star, and joy a vane that veers,
These many years.
With her, my love, with her have they done well?
But who shall answer for her? who shall tell
Sweet things or sad, such things as no man hears?
May no tears fall, if no tears ever fell,
From eyes more dear to me than starriest spheres
These many years!
But if tears ever touched, for any grief,
Those eyelids folded like a white-rose leaf,
Deep double shells wherethrough the eye-flower peers,
Let them weep once more only, sweet and brief,
Brief tears and bright, for one who gave her tears
These many years.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 15, 2023
- 43 sec read
- 91 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | aababB ccxcbB ddbdxB |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 758 |
Words | 146 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6 |
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"Rondel" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/1390/rondel>.
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