To Marguerite: Continued

Matthew Arnold 1822 (Laleham) – 1888 (Liverpool)



Yes! in the sea of life enisled,
With echoing straits between us thrown,
Dotting the shoreless watery wild,
We mortal millions live alone.
The islands feel the enclasping flow,
And then their endless bounds they know.

But when the moon their hollows lights,
And they are swept by balms of spring,
And in their glens, on starry nights,
The nightingales divinely sing;
And lovely notes, from shore to shore,
Across the sounds and channels pour--

Oh! then a longing like despair
Is to their farthest caverns sent;
For surely once, they feel, we were
Parts of a single continent!
Now round us spreads the watery plain--
Oh might our marges meet again!

Who order'd, that their longing's fire
Should be, as soon as kindled, cool'd?
Who renters vain their deep desire?--
A God, a God their severance ruled!
And bade betwixt their shores to be
The unplumb'd, salt, estranging sea.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

47 sec read
33

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCC DEDEFF XAGAXX GAGAHH
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 857
Words 153
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6

Matthew Arnold

Matthew Arnold was a British poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. more…

All Matthew Arnold poems | Matthew Arnold Books

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    "To Marguerite: Continued" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/27301/to-marguerite:-continued>.

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