Insufficiency
Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1806 (Kelloe) – 1861 (Florence)
When I attain to utter forth in verse
Some inward thought, my soul throbs audibly
Along my pulses, yearning to be free
And something farther, fuller, higher, rehearse
To the individual, true, and the universe,
In consummation of right harmony:
But, like a wind-exposed distorted tree,
We are blown against for ever by the curse
Which breathes through Nature. Oh, the world is weak !
The effluence of each is false to all,
And what we best conceive we fail to speak.
Wait, soul, until thine ashen garments fall,
And then resume thy broken strains, and seek
Fit peroration without let or thrall.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 31 sec read
- 112 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABBAABBACDCDCD |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 588 |
Words | 104 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
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"Insufficiency" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 31 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/10235/insufficiency>.
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