A Tragedy

Arthur Conan Doyle 1859 (Edinburgh) – 1930 (Crowborough)



Who's that walking on the moorland?
Who's that moving on the hill?
They are passing 'mid the bracken,
But the shadows grow and blacken
And I cannot see them clearly on the hill.
  
Who's that calling on the moorland?
Who's that crying on the hill?
Was it bird or was it human,
Was it child, or man, or woman,
Who was calling so sadly on the hill?
  
Who's that running on the moorland?
Who's that flying on the hill?
He is there--and there again,
But you cannot see him plain,
For the shadow lies so darkly on the hill.
  
What's that lying in the heather?
What's that lurking on the hill?
My horse will go no nearer,
And I cannot see it clearer,
But there's something that is lying on the hill.
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on March 05, 2023

43 sec read
10

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCCB ABCCB ABXXB DBDDB
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 676
Words 135
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5, 5

Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a British author most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes which are generally considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction and for the adventures of Professor Challenger He was a prolific writer whose other works include science fiction stories historical novels plays and romances poetry and non-fiction more…

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