Absence
Elizabeth Jennings 1926 (Boston) – 2001
I visited the place where we last met.
Nothing was changed, the gardens were well-tended,
The fountains sprayed their usual steady jet;
There was no sign that anything had ended
And nothing to instruct me to forget.
The thoughtless birds that shook out of the trees,
Singing an ecstasy I could not share,
Played cunning in my thoughts. Surely in these
Pleasures there could not be a pain to bear
Or any discord shake the level breeze.
It was because the place was just the same
That made your absence seem a savage force,
For under all the gentleness there came
An earthquake tremor: Fountain, birds and grass
Were shaken by my thinking of your name.
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on April 18, 2023
- 35 sec read
- 36 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABA CDCDC EXEXE |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 642 |
Words | 118 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5 |
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"Absence" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/55111/absence>.
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