For a Picture of St. Dorothea

Gerard Manley Hopkins 1844 (Stratford, London) – 1889 (Dublin)



I bear a basket lined with grass;
I am so light, I am so fair,
That men must wonder as I pass
And at the basket that I bear,
Where in a newly-drawn green litter
Sweet flowers I carry,—sweets for bitter.

Lilies I shew you, lilies none,
None in Caesar’s gardens blow,—
And a quince in hand,—not one
Is set upon your boughs below;
Not set, because their buds not spring;
Spring not, ’cause world is wintering.

But these were found in the East and South
Where Winter is the clime forgot.—
The dewdrop on the larkspur’s mouth
O should it then be quench`d not?
In starry water-meads they drew
These drops: which be they? stars or dew?

Had she a quince in hand? Yet gaze:
Rather it is the sizing moon.
Lo, linkèd heavens with milky ways!
That was her larkspur row.—So soon?
Sphered so fast, sweet soul?—We see
Nor fruit, nor flowers, nor Dorothy.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 01, 2023

49 sec read
146

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCC DEDEFF GHGHII JKJKLL
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 867
Words 165
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6

Gerard Manley Hopkins

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