A Legacy.

Henry Austin Dobson 1840 (Plymouth) – 1921



Ah, Postumus, we all must go:
This keen North-Easter nips my shoulder;
My strength begins to fail; I know
You find me older;
  
I've made my Will. Dear, faithful friend--
My Muse's friend and not my purse's!
Who still would hear and still commend
My tedious verses,
  
How will you live--of these deprived?
I've learned your candid soul. The venal,--
The sordid friend had scarce survived
A test so penal;
  
But you--Nay, nay, 'tis so. The rest
Are not as you: you hide your merit;
You, more than all, deserve the best
True friends inherit;--
  
Not gold,--that hearts like yours despise;
Not "spacious dirt" (your own expression),
No; but the rarer, dearer prize--
The Life's Confession!
  
You catch my thought? What! Can't you guess?
You, you alone, admired my Cantos;--
I've left you, P., my whole MS.,
In three portmanteaus!
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on March 05, 2023

46 sec read
3

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH DIDI DDDD
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 807
Words 149
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Henry Austin Dobson

Henry Austin Dobson was an English poet and essayist His official career was uneventful but as a poet and biographer he was distinguished Those who study his work are usually struck by its maturity more…

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    "A Legacy." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/55569/a-legacy.>.

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