The Chief
William Ernest Henley 1849 (Gloucester) – 1903 (Woking)
His brow spreads large and placid, and his eye
Is deep and bright, with steady looks that still.
Soft lines of tranquil thought his face fulfill -
His face at once benign and proud and shy.
If envy scout, if ignorance deny,
His faultless patience, his unyielding will,
Beautiful gentleness and splendid skill,
Innumerable gratitudes reply.
His wise, rare smile is sweet with certainties,
And seems in all his patients to compel
Such love and faith as failure cannot quell.
We hold him for another Herakles,
Battling with custom, prejudice, disease,
As once the son of Zeus with Death and Hell.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 30 sec read
- 90 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABBAABBACDDCCD |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 588 |
Words | 103 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
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"The Chief" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/40546/the-chief>.
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