The Foreign Land

Coventry Patmore 1823 (Woodford, London) – 1896 (Lymington)



A woman is a foreign land,
Of which, though there he settle young,
A man will ne'er quite understand
The customs, politics, and tongue.
The foolish hie them post-haste through,
See fashions odd, and prospects fair,
Learn of the language, "How d'ye do,"
And go and brag they have been there.
The most for leave to trade apply,
For once, at Empire's seat, her heart,
Then get what knowledge ear and eye
Glean chancewise in the life-long mart.
And certain others, few and fit,
Attach them to the Court, and see
The Country's best, its accent hit,
And partly sound its polity.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

32 sec read
72

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCDCDEFEFGHGH
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 565
Words 105
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 16

Coventry Patmore

Coventry Kersey Dighton Patmore was an English poet and critic best known for The Angel in the House, his narrative poem about an ideal happy marriage. more…

All Coventry Patmore poems | Coventry Patmore Books

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