The barren music of a word or phrase,

Christopher Morley 1890 (Haverford) – 1957



THE barren music of a word or phrase,
The futile arts of syllable and stress,
He sought. The poetry of common days
He did not guess.

The simplest, sweetest rhythms life affords-
Unselfish love, true effort truly done,
The tender themes that underlie all words-
He knew not one.

The human cadence and the subtle chime
Of little laughters, home and child and wife,
He knew not. Artist merely in his rhyme,
Not in his life.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 29, 2023

23 sec read
465

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB XCXC DEDE
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 426
Words 78
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4

Christopher Morley

Christopher Morley was accepted to UCLA in 1969 with a major in mathematics. more…

All Christopher Morley poems | Christopher Morley Books

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