All That I Was I Am



Hateful it seems now, yet was I not happy?
    Starved of the things I loved, I did not know
    I loved them, and was happy lacking them.
    If bitterness comes now (and that is hell)
    It is when I forget that I was happy,
    Accusing Fate, that sits and nods and laughs,
    Because I was not born a bird or tree.
    Let accusation sleep, lest God's own finger
    Point angry from the cloud in which He hides.
    Who may regret what was, since it has made
    Himself himself? All that I was I am,
    And the old childish joy now lives in me
    At sight of a green field or a green tree.
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Submitted by halel on July 15, 2020

Modified on March 05, 2023

34 sec read
6

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCDAEAFGHIAA
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 587
Words 113
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 13

John Frederick Freeman

John Frederick Freeman was an English poet and essayist, who gave up a successful career in insurance to write full-time. He was born in London, and started as an office boy aged 13. more…

All John Frederick Freeman poems | John Frederick Freeman Books

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