How was it

Helen Hunt Jackson 1830 (Amherst, Massachusetts) – 1885 (San Francisco)



Why ask, dear one? I think I cannot tell,
More than I know how clouds so sudden lift
From mountains, or how snowflakes float and drift,
Or springs leave hills. One secret and one spell
All true things have. No sunlight ever fell
With sound to bid flowers open. Still and swift
Come sweetest things on earth.
So comes true gift
Of Love, and so we know that it is well.
Sure tokens also, like the cloud, the snow,
And silent flowing of the mountain-springs,
The new gift of true loving always brings.
In clearer light, in purer paths, we go:
New currents of deep joy in common things
We find. These are the tokens, dear, we know!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
76

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBAABCBADEEDED
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 621
Words 120
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 15

Helen Hunt Jackson

Helen Maria Hunt Jackson, born Helen Fiske, was an American poet and writer who became an activist on behalf of improved treatment of Native Americans by the United States government. more…

All Helen Hunt Jackson poems | Helen Hunt Jackson Books

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    "How was it" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/17069/how-was-it>.

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