Back-View - To D. F.

William Ernest Henley 1849 (Gloucester) – 1903 (Woking)



I watched you saunter down the sand:
Serene and large, the golden weather
Flowed radiant round your peacock feather,
And glistered from your jewelled hand.
Your tawny hair, turned strand on strand
And bound with blue ribands together,
Streaked the rough tartan, green like heather,
That round your lissome shoulder spanned.
Your grace was quick my sense to seize:
The quaint looped hat, the twisted tresses,
The close-drawn scarf, and under these
The flowing, flapping draperies -
My thought an outline still caresses,
Enchanting, comic, Japanese!
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on March 05, 2023

25 sec read
3

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBAABBACDCCDC
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 534
Words 86
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

William Ernest Henley

William Ernest Henley was an English poet, critic and editor, best remembered for his 1875 poem "Invictus". more…

All William Ernest Henley poems | William Ernest Henley Books

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