True Diffidence
William Schwenck Gilbert 1836 – 1911
My boy, you may take it from me,
That of all the afflictions accurst
With which a man's saddled
And hampered and addled,
A diffident nature's the worst.
Though clever as clever can be -
A Crichton of early romance -
You must stir it and stump it,
And blow your own trumpet,
Or, trust me, you haven't a chance.
Now take, for example, MY case:
I've a bright intellectual brain -
In all London city
There's no one so witty -
I've thought so again and again.
I've a highly intelligent face -
My features cannot be denied -
But, whatever I try, sir,
I fail in - and why, sir?
I'm modesty personified!
As a poet, I'm tender and quaint -
I've passion and fervour and grace -
From Ovid and Horace
To Swinburne and Morris,
They all of them take a back place.
Then I sing and I play and I paint;
Though none are accomplished as I,
To say so were treason:
You ask me the reason?
I'm diffident, modest, and shy!
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 56 sec read
- 69 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABBBBACBBC DXAAXDBEEB BDFFDBGHHG |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 878 |
Words | 178 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 10, 10 |
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"True Diffidence" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/41354/true-diffidence>.
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