Villanelle:
Edmund William Gosse 1849 (England) – 1928 (England)
WOULDST thou not be content to die
When low-hung fruit is hardly clinging,
And golden Autumn passes by?
Beneath this delicate rose-gray sky,
While sunset bells are faintly ringing,
Wouldst thou not be content to die?
For wintry webs of mist on high
Out of the muffled earth are springing,
And golden Autumn passes by.
O now when pleasures fade and fly,
And Hope her southward flight is winging,
Wouldst thou not be content to die?
Lest Winter come, with wailing cry
His cruel icy bondage bringing,
When golden Autumn hath passed by.
And thou, with many a tear and sigh,
While life her wasted hands is wringing,
Shalt pray in vain for leave to die
When golden Autumn hath passed by.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 23, 2023
- 37 sec read
- 161 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AbA abA abA abA abA abaA |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 689 |
Words | 124 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4 |
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"Villanelle:" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 7 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/42883/villanelle:>.
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