The Alde

John Freeman 1880 – 1929



How near I walked to Love,
How long, I cannot tell.
I was like the Alde that flows
Quietly through green level lands,
So quietly, it knows
Their shape, their greenness and their shadows well;
And then undreamingly for miles it goes
And silently, beside the sea.

Seamews circle over,
The winter wildfowl wings,
Long and green the grasses wave
Between the river and the sea.
The sea's cry, wild or grave,
From bank to low bank of the river rings;
But the uncertain river though it crave
The sea, knows not the sea.

Was that indeed salt wind?
Came that noise from falling
Wild waters on a stony shore?
Oh, what is this new troubling tide
Of eager waves that pour
Around and over, leaping, parting, recalling?…
How near I moved (as day to same day wore)
And silently, beside the sea!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

44 sec read
74

Quick analysis:

Scheme xabxbabC xdecedec xfgxgfgC
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 766
Words 146
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8

John Freeman

John Frederick Freeman (29 January 1880 – 23 September 1929) was an English poet and essayist, who gave up a successful career in insurance to write full-time. more…

All John Freeman poems | John Freeman Books

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