Irony

Roderic Quinn 1867 (Surry Hills, New South Wales) – 1949 (Darlinghurst, New South Wales)



ALL night a great wind blew across the land,
Come fresh from wild and salty seas,
With many voices loud and low
Appealing to the sympathies
Of those with whom long, long ago
It had been friends, but who
Had lost the way to know and understand
Its weird and tearless woe.
A sleeper, drawn from ancient fancies, stirred,
And strangely breathed in deep unrest
As though his heart were choked with grief;
The moon down-stealing in the west
Threw every move of limb and leaf
Upon his blind. Now this
Was he the wind sought wildly, had he heard
Alas, the friend was deaf!
All time a great Thought wandered round the world
Naked and breathing loveliness,
Seeking in alien souls a home
And thwarted, yet a-seek no less
At every door, till forced to roam
A wonder unexpressed:
A sense of strangeness, as of wings unfurled,
Hovered at times o'er some.
He heard the knocking at the inner door;
He saw her face a light intense,
And stood amazed, irresolute.
'Now, thou who hast the poet-sense
In song serene and absolute
Proclaim my hidden worth!'
He sobbed; she drooped her wings . . .Woe evermore!
The chosen mind was mute.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:01 min read
70

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCBCDACEFGFGHEIJBKLKAJMNOAOPQNP
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,094
Words 204
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 32

Roderic Quinn

Roderic Joseph Quinn was an Australian poet. more…

All Roderic Quinn poems | Roderic Quinn Books

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