Baptism
Claude McKay 1889 (Clarendon Parish) – 1948 (Chicago)
Into the furnace let me go alone;
Stay you without in terror of the heat.
I will go naked in--for thus ''tis sweet--
Into the weird depths of the hottest zone.
I will not quiver in the frailest bone,
You will not note a flicker of defeat;
My heart shall tremble not its fate to meet,
My mouth give utterance to any moan.
The yawning oven spits forth fiery spears;
Red aspish tongues shout wordlessly my name.
Desire destroys, consumes my mortal fears,
Transforming me into a shape of flame.
I will come out, back to your world of tears,
A stronger soul within a finer frame.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 01, 2023
- 32 sec read
- 201 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABBAABBACDCDED |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 569 |
Words | 109 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
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"Baptism" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 4 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/6846/baptism>.
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