A South-Sea Islander.



Aloll in the warm clear water,
On her back with languorous limbs,
She lies. The baby upon her breasts
Paddles and falls and swims.
  
With half-closed eyes she smiles,
Guarding it with her hands;
And the sob swells up in my heart -
In my heart that understands.
  
Dear, in the English country,
The hatefullest land on earth,
The mothers are starved and the children die,
And death is better than birth!
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on March 05, 2023

22 sec read
17

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAXA XBXB XCXC
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 392
Words 74
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4

Francis William Lauderdale Adams

Francis William Lauderdale Adams was an essayist poet dramatist novelist and journalist who produced a large volume of work in his short life more…

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    "A South-Sea Islander." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/55262/a-south-sea-islander.>.

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