Song: XI
Maurice Polydore-Marie-Bernard Maeterlinck 1862 (Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck Ghent) – 1949 (Nice)
Mother, mother, do you not hear?
Mother, they come; there is news to tell!
– Give me your hands, my daughter dear:
'Tis but a ship that saileth well.
Mother dear, have a care, give heed!
–They go, my daughter, away they speed.
Mother, the danger is sore, alas!
– Child, my child, it will quickly pass.
Mother, mother, She draweth near!
– It is down in the harbour, daughter dear.
Mother, mother, She opens the door!
– Child, they go, to return no more.
Mother, She enters! I am afraid!
– Child, they now have the anchor weighed.
Mother, I hear Her speaking low.
– Child, my child, it is they that go.
Mother, She makes the stars go dark!
– Child, 'tis the sails of a shadowy bark.
Mother, She knocks at the casement still!
– Child, maybe it is fastened ill. . . .
Mother, mother, my sight grows dim. . . .
– Child, they sail for the open sea.
On every hand I can hear but Him. . . .
– O child, what is it, and who is He?
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 53 sec read
- 104 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | XABA CCDD BBEE FFGG HHII JKJK |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 943 |
Words | 178 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"Song: XI" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/43325/song:-xi>.
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