To the Muse

Robert Louis Stevenson 1850 (Edinburgh) – 1894 (Vailima, Samoa)



Resign the rhapsody, the dream,
To men of larger reach;
Be ours the quest of a plain theme,
The piety of speech.

As monkish scribes from morning break
Toiled till the close of light,
Nor thought a day too long to make
One line or letter bright:

We also with an ardent mind,
Time, wealth, and fame forgot,
Our glory in our patience find
And skim, and skim the pot:

Till last, when round the house we hear
The evensong of birds,
One corner of blue heaven appear
In our clear well of words.

Leave, leave it then, muse of my heart!
Sans finish and sans frame,
Leave unadorned by needless art
The picture as it came.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

35 sec read
63

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF XGXG HIHI
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 604
Words 119
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer. more…

All Robert Louis Stevenson poems | Robert Louis Stevenson Books

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