The River Of Ruin
Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906
ALONG by the river of ruin
They dally — the thoughtless ones,
They dance and they dream
By the side of the stream,
As long as the river runs.
It seems all so pleasant and cheery —
No thought of the morrow is theirs,
And their faces are bright
With the sun of delight,
And they dream of no night-brooding cares.
The women wear garlanded tresses,
The men have rings on their hands,
And they sing in their glee,
For they think they are free —
They that know not the treacherous sands.
Ah, but this be a venturesome journey,
Forever those sands are ashrift,
And a step to one side
Means a grasp of the tide,
And the current is fearful and swift.
For once in the river of ruin,
What boots it, to do or to dare,
For down we must go
In the turbulent flow,
To the desolate sea of Despair.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 46 sec read
- 107 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABCCBDEFFEGHDDHDFIIJAKLLK |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 772 |
Words | 156 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 25 |
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"The River Of Ruin" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/28945/the-river-of-ruin>.
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