A Maiden's Secret
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
I have written this day down in my heart
As the sweetest day in the season;
From all of the others I've set it apart---
But I will not tell you the reason,
That is my secret---I must not tell;
But the skies are soft and tender,
And never before, I know full well,
Was the earth so full of splendour.
I sing at my labour the whole day long,
And my heart is as light as a feather;
And there is a reason for my glad song
Besides the beautiful weather.
But I will not tell it to you; and though
That thrush in the maple heard it,
And would shout it aloud if he could, I know
He hasn't the power to word it.
Up, where I was sewing, this morn came one
Who told me the sweetest stories,
He said I had stolen my hair from the sun,
And my eyes from the morning glories.
Grandmother says that I must not believe
A word men say, for they flatter;
But I'm sure he would never try to deceive,
For he told me---but there---no matter!
Last night I was sad, and the world to me
Seemed a lonely and dreary dwelling,
But some one then had not asked me to be---
There now! I am almost telling.
Not another word shall my two lips say,
I will shut them fast together,
And never a mortal shall know to-day
Why my heart is as light as a feather.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:16 min read
- 77 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABCDCD EDEDFGFG BHBHIDID JKJKLDLD |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,227 |
Words | 251 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
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"A Maiden's Secret" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/10487/a-maiden's-secret>.
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