Had I the Choice
Walt Whitman 1819 (West Hills) – 1892 (Camden)
Had I the choice to tally greatest bards,
To limn their portraits, stately, beautiful, and emulate at will,
Homer with all his wars and warriors--Hector, Achilles, Ajax,
Or Shakespeare's woe-entangled Hamlet, Lear, Othello--Tennyson's fair ladies,
Meter or wit the best, or choice conceit to weild in perfect rhyme, delight of singers;
These, these, O sea, all these I'd gladly barter,
Would you the undulation of one wave, its trick to me transfer,
Or breathe one breath of yours upon my verse,
And leave its odor there.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 02, 2023
- 27 sec read
- 439 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABAAACCAD |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 529 |
Words | 88 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 9 |
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"Had I the Choice" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/38022/had-i-the-choice>.
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