Grief sat beside the fount of tears



Grief sat beside the fount of tears,
And dipt her garland in it,
While all the paly flowers she wears
Grew fainter every minute.

Joy gamboled by the other side,
In gay and artless guise,
And to her gloomy sister cried,
With laughter in her eyes--

``Oh! prithee leave that stupid task,
That melancholy fountain;
I go in Pleasure's sun to bask,
Or dance up Fancy's mountain.''

``Insolent fooler!--go--beware,''
Said Grief, in moody tone,
``How thus you frivolously dare
Approach my solemn throne!''

And then, on Joy's fair wreath she threw,
With sideward glance of malice,
Some drops of that embitter'd dew
Fresh from a poison'd chalice.

But Joy laugh'd on;--``In vain, in vain
You try to blight one flower;
That which you meant for fatal bane
Shall prove my brightest dower:--

``Friendship and Love on every leaf
Shall wear the pearly toy,
And all, who shrink from tears of Grief,
Shall pray for tears of Joy.''

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

50 sec read
97

Quick analysis:

Scheme AXAX BCBC DEDE FGFG HXHX IXIX JKJK
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 891
Words 166
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Richard Monckton Milnes Houghton

Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton, FRS (19 June 1809 – 11 August 1885) was an English poet, patron of literature and politician. more…

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