To J.W.
Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803 (Boston) – 1882 (Concord)
Set not thy foot on graves;
Hear what wine and roses say;
The mountain chase, the summer waves,
The crowded town, thy feet may well delay.
Set not thy foot on graves;
Nor seek to unwind the shroud
Which charitable time
And nature have allowed
To wrap the errors of a sage sublime.
Set not thy foot on graves;
Care not to strip the dead
Of his sad ornament;
His myrrh, and wine, and rings,
His sheet of lead,
And trophies buried;
Go get them where he earned them when alive,
As resolutely dig or dive.
Life is too short to waste
The critic bite or cynic bark,
Quarrel, or reprimand;
'Twill soon be dark;
Up! mind thine own aim, and
God speed the mark.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 38 sec read
- 75 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | Abab Acdcd Aexxexff xgxgxg |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 636 |
Words | 127 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 5, 8, 6 |
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"To J.W." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/29886/to-j.w.>.
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