The Apparition: A Retrospect

Herman Melville 1819 – 1891



Convulsions came; and, where the field
Long slept in pastoral green,
A goblin-mountain was upheaved
(Sure the scared sense was all deceived),
Marl-glen and slag-ravine.

The unreserve of Ill was there,
The clinkers in her last retreat;
But, ere the eye could take it in,
Or mind could comprehension win,
It sunk! - and at our feet.

So, then, Solidity's a crust -
The core of fire below;
All may go well for many a year,
But who can think without a fear
Of horrors that happen so?

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

27 sec read
342

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAXB XCDDC XEFFE
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 472
Words 90
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5

Herman Melville

Herman Melville was an American writer best known for the novel Moby-Dick. more…

All Herman Melville poems | Herman Melville Books

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