The Masked Face
Thomas Hardy 1840 (Stinsford) – 1928 (Dorchester, Dorset)
I found me in a great surging space,
At either end a door,
And I said: "What is this giddying place,
With no firm-fixéd floor,
That I knew not of before?"
"It is Life," said a mask-clad face.
I asked: "But how do I come here,
Who never wished to come;
Can the light and air be made more clear,
The floor more quietsome,
And the doors set wide? They numb
Fast-locked, and fill with fear."
The mask put on a bleak smile then,
And said, "O vassal-wight,
There once complained a goosequill pen
To the scribe of the Infinite
Of the words it had to write
Because they were past its ken."
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 34 sec read
- 141 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABBA XCDCCD EFEXFE |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 573 |
Words | 119 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6 |
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"The Masked Face" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/36528/the-masked-face>.
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