Doubt
Helen Hunt Jackson 1830 (Amherst, Massachusetts) – 1885 (San Francisco)
1 They bade me cast the thing away,
2 They pointed to my hands all bleeding,
3 They listened not to all my pleading;
4 The thing I meant I could not say;
5 I knew that I should rue the day
6 If once I cast that thing away.
7 I grasped it firm, and bore the pain;
8 The thorny husks I stripped and scattered;
9 If I could reach its heart, what mattered
10 If other men saw not my gain,
11 Or even if I should be slain?
12 I knew the risks; I chose the pain.
13 O, had I cast that thing away,
14 I had not found what most I cherish,
15 A faith without which I should perish,--
16 The faith which, like a kernel, lay
17 Hid in the husks which on that day
18 My instinct would not throw away!
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 07, 2023
- 45 sec read
- 64 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABBAAA CDDCCC AEEAAA |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 758 |
Words | 153 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6 |
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"Doubt" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 12 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/17061/doubt>.
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