Down, Wanton, Down!

Robert Graves 1895 (Wimbledon) – 1985 (Deià)



Down, wanton, down! Have you no shame
That at the whisper of Love's name,
Or Beauty's, presto! up you raise
Your angry head and stand at gaze?

Poor bombard-captain, sworn to reach
The ravelin and effect a breach--
Indifferent what you storm or why,
So be that in the breach you die!

Love may be blind, but Love at least
Knows what is man and what mere beast;
Or Beauty wayward, but requires
More delicacy from her squires.

Tell me, my witless, whose one boast
Could be your staunchness at the post,
When were you made a man of parts
To think fine and profess the arts?

Will many-gifted Beauty come
Bowing to your bald rule of thumb,
Or Love swear loyalty to your crown?
Be gone, have done! Down, wanton, down!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 16, 2023

40 sec read
165

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABB CCDD EEFF GGHH IIJJ
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 717
Words 134
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Robert Graves

Robert von Ranke Graves was an English poet, scholar/translator/writer of antiquity specializing in Classical Greece and Rome, novelist and soldier in World War One. more…

All Robert Graves poems | Robert Graves Books

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