To a Friend
Matthew Arnold 1822 (Laleham) – 1888 (Liverpool)
Who prop, thou ask'st in these bad days, my mind?--
He much, the old man, who, clearest-souled of men,
Saw The Wide Prospect, and the Asian Fen,
And Tmolus hill, and Smyrna bay, though blind.
Much he, whose friendship I not long since won,
That halting slave, who in Nicopolis
Taught Arrian, when Vespasian's brutal son
Cleared Rome of what most shamed him. But be his
My special thanks, whose even-balanced soul,
From first youth tested up to extreme old age,
Business could not make dull, nor passion wild;
Who saw life steadily, and saw it whole;
The mellow glory of the Attic stage,
Singer of sweet Colonus, and its child.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 34 sec read
- 390 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABBA CDCD EFG EFG |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 621 |
Words | 114 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 3, 3 |
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"To a Friend" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/27299/to-a-friend>.
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