The Fount Of Tears
Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906
All hot and grimy from the road,
Dust gray from arduous years,
I sat me down and eased my load
Beside the Fount of Tears.
The waters sparkled to my eye,
Calm, crystal-like, and cool,
And breathing there a restful sigh,
I bent me to the pool.
When, lo! a voice cried: 'Pilgrim, rise,
Harsh tho' the sentence be,
And on to other lands and skies--
This fount is not for thee.
'Pass on, but calm thy needless fears,
Some may not love or sin,
An angel guards the Fount of Tears;
All may not bathe therein.'
Then with my burden on my back
I turned to gaze awhile,
First at the uninviting track,
Then at the water's smile.
And so I go upon my way,
Thro'out the sultry years,
But pause no more, by night, by day,
Beside the Fount of Tears.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 44 sec read
- 120 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | abaC dede fgfg bhch ijij kbkC |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 716 |
Words | 146 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"The Fount Of Tears" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 31 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/28901/the-fount-of-tears>.
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