If I Were Old
If I were old, a broken man and blind,
and one should lead me to Mid-Eildon's crest,
and leave me there a little time to rest
sharing the hilltop with the Border wind,
the whispering heather, and the curlew's cry,
I know the blind dark could not be so deep,
so cruel and clinging, but that I
should see the sunlit curve of Cheviot's steep
rise blue and friendly on the distant sky!
There is no darkness - God! there cannot be -
so heavy as to curtain from my sight
the beauty of those Border slopes that lie
far south before me, and a love-found light
would shine upon the slow Tweed loitering by
with gift of song and silver to the sea!-
No dark can ever hide this dear loved land from me
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 42 sec read
- 114 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABBACDCDC EFCFCEE |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 682 |
Words | 138 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 7 |
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"If I Were Old" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 19 Feb. 2025. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/40775/if-i-were-old>.
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