To Tochterchen: On Her Birthday

Sydney Thompson Dobell 1824 (Kent) – 1874



As one doth touch a flower wherein the dew
Trembles to fall, as one unplaits the ply
Of morning gossamer, so tenderly
My spirit touches thine. Yet, daughter true
And fair, great Launcelot's mighty nerve and thew
Best clove a king or caught a butterfly,
(Since each extreme is perfect mastery
-Accurate cause repaid in the fine due
Of just effect-) and, child, it should be so
With Love. The same that nicely plundereth
The honeyed zephyrs for thy cates and wine
Should train thee with the tasks of toil and woe,
Or hold thee against adverse life and death,
Or give thee from my breast to dearer arms than mine.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

34 sec read
108

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCAABCADEFDEF
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 605
Words 113
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

Sydney Thompson Dobell

Sydney Thompson Dobell, English poet and critic, was born at Cranbrook, Kent. more…

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