Asking Forgiveness



I did not say, "Yes, we had better part
Since love is over or must be suppressed."
I did not say, "I'll hold you in my heart
Saint-like, and in the thought of your thought rest,
And pray for you and wish you happiness
In a better love than mine."
  
I was another man to another woman,
Tears falling or burnt dry were nothing then.
I struck your heart, I struck your mind; inhuman,
Future and past I stabbed and stabbed again,
Cursing the very thought of your happiness
In another love than mine:
  
--Then left you sick to death, and I like death.
It was a broken body bore me away--
A broken mind--poisoned by my own breath,
And love self-poisoned.... Was it but yesterday?
--Forgive, forgive, forgive, forgive, forgive,
Forgive!
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on March 05, 2023

40 sec read
6

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCD EFEFCD GHGHII
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 714
Words 136
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6

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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    "Asking Forgiveness" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/55897/asking-forgiveness>.

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