Constantinople - The Greek Han
Victoria Mary Sackville-West 1892 – 1962
A sunny court with wooden balconies,
And wool hung out to dry in gaudy skeins,
A fountain, and some pigeons murmuringly
Picking up yellow grains.
Pass through a little tumble-down green door
Into the dark and crowded shop; the Turk
Crouching above the brasier, smiles and nods;
'Tis all his daily work.
Here marble heads and alabaster jars,
Fragments of porphyry and Persian tiles,
Lie heaped in ruin, and at our dismay
The old Turk shrugs and smiles,
And sips his coffee, reaching out a hand
To throw upon the brasier at his feet
A handful of dried herbs, whose sudden smoke
Rises up incense-sweet.
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 32 sec read
- 11 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | XAXA XBXB XCXC XDXD |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 598 |
Words | 109 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"Constantinople - The Greek Han" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/56865/constantinople---the-greek-han>.
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