Fulfillment
Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906
I GREW a rose once more to please mine eyes.
All things to aid it — dew, sun, wind, fair skies —
Were kindly; and to shield it from despoil,
I fenced it safely in with grateful toil.
No other hand than mine shall pluck this flower, said I,
And I was jealous of the bee that hovered nigh.
It grew for days; I stood hour after hour
To watch the slow unfolding of the flower,
And then I did not leave its side at all,
Lest some mischance my flower should befall.
At last, oh joy! the central petals burst apart.
It blossomed — but, alas! a worm was at its heart!
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 34 sec read
- 134 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AABBCCDDBBEE |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 562 |
Words | 115 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 12 |
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"Fulfillment" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/28732/fulfillment>.
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