The Old Unrest.

Robert Crawford 1959 (Bellshill)



That which made us seems to fret
Like a pang within us yet,
As if we unfinished were,
Such blind gropings in us stir,
As light in an eye grown dim
That can no more finely limn
All the senses would impart
To the sad, mysterious heart,
Or an ear grown taut that can
No more tune the tones of man.
We are still such troubled elves,
As we were beside ourselves —
One with Him, it may be, who
Is as vexed as we are too
With a mystic malady
Running through Eternity!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

28 sec read
400

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBCDEEDDFFGGHH
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 455
Words 96
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 16

Robert Crawford

Robert Crawford FRSE FBA is a Scottish poet, scholar and critic. He is currently Professor of English at the University of St Andrews.  more…

All Robert Crawford poems | Robert Crawford Books

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    "The Old Unrest." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/30779/the-old-unrest.>.

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