Work
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
When twenty-one I loved to dream,
And was to loafing well inclined;
Somehow I couldn't get up steam
To welcome work of any kind.
While students burned the midnight lamp,
With dour ambition as their goad,
I longed to be a gayful tramp
And greet adventure on the road.
But now that sixty years have sped,
Behold! I toil from morn to night.
The thoughts that teem into my head
I pray: God give me time to write.
With eager and unflagging pen
No drudgery of desk I shirk,
And preach to all retiring men
The gospel of unceasing work.
And yet I do not sadly grieve
Such squandering of golden days;
For from my dreaming I believe
Have stemmed my least unworthy lays.
Aye, toil is best when all is said,
As age has made me understand . . .
So fitly fold, when I am dead,
A pencil in my hand.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 25, 2023
- 45 sec read
- 47 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABCDCD EFEFGHGH IJIJEKEK |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 833 |
Words | 152 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8 |
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"Work" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/32758/work>.
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