The Stone

Anne Morrow Lindbergh 1906 (Englewood) – 2001 (Passumpsic)



There is a core of suffering that the mind
Can never penetrate or even find;
A stone that clogs the stream of my delight,
Hidden beneath the surface out of sight,
Below the flow of words it lies concealed,
It blocks my passage and it will not yield
To hammer blows of will, and still resists
The surgeon's scalpel of analysis.
Too hard for tears and too opaque for light,
Bright shafts of prayer splinter against its might.
Beauty cannot disguise nor music melt
A pain undiagnosable [sic] but felt.

No sleep dissolves that stony stalagmite
Mounting within the unconscious caves of night.

No solvent left but love. Whose love? My own?
And is one asked to love the harsh unknown?
I am no Francis who could kiss the lip
Of alien leper. Caught within the grip
Of world un-faith [sic], I cannot even pray,
And must I love? Is there no other way?

Suffering without name or tongue or face,
Blindly I crush you in my dark embrace!
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Submitted on April 16, 2019

Modified on April 20, 2023

51 sec read
92

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBCCXXBBDD AB EEFFGG HH
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 901
Words 169
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 12, 2, 6, 2

Anne Morrow Lindbergh

She was an acclaimed author, whose books and articles spanned genres from poetry to nonfiction, touching upon topics as diverse as youth and age, love and marriage, peace, solitude and contentment, and the role of women in the 20th century. more…

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