I would not tarry if I could be gone

Joseph Seamon Cotter 1861 (Louisville) – 1949



I would not tarry if I could be gone
Adown the path where calls my eager mind.
That fate which knows naught but to grip and bind
Holds me within its grasp, a helpless pawn,
And checks my steps when I would travel on.
Forever shall my body lag behind,
And in this Valley with the Moaning Wind
Must I abide with never a glimpse of dawn?

Though bends my body toward the yawning sod,
I can endure the pain, the sorrows rife,
That hold me fast beneath their chastening rod,
If from this turmoil and this endless strife,
Comes there a light to lead Man nearer God,
And guide his footsteps toward the Larger Life.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

35 sec read
78

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBAXBBA CDCDCD
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 613
Words 118
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 6

Joseph Seamon Cotter

Joseph Seamon Cotter Jr. was an American playwright, author and poet from Louisville, Kentucky most remembered for his posthumously published one-act play On The Fields of France in addition to numerous volumes of poetry. more…

All Joseph Seamon Cotter poems | Joseph Seamon Cotter Books

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