In the Reading-Room of the British Museum

Louise Imogen Guiney 1861 (Roxbury) – 1920



Praised be the moon of books! that doth above
A world of men, the fallen Past behold,
And fill the spaces else so void and cold
To make a very heaven again thereof;
As when the sun is set behind a grove,
And faintly unto nether ether rolled,
All night his whiter image and his mould
Grows beautiful with looking on her love.

Thou therefore, moon of so divine a ray,
Lend to our steps both fortitude and light!
Feebly along a venerable way
They climb the infinite, or perish quite;
Nothing are days and deeds to such as they,
While in this liberal house thy face is bright.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

33 sec read
62

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBAXBBA CDCDCD
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 579
Words 111
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 6

Louise Imogen Guiney

Louise Imogen Guiney was an American poet, essayist and editor born in Roxbury, Massachusetts. more…

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    "In the Reading-Room of the British Museum" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/26160/in-the-reading-room-of-the-british-museum>.

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