Sonnet 10
Alan Seeger 1888 (New York City) – 1916
I have sought Happiness, but it has been
A lovely rainbow, baffling all pursuit,
And tasted Pleasure, but it was a fruit
More fair of outward hue than sweet within.
Renouncing both, a flake in the ferment
Of battling hosts that conquer or recoil,
There only, chastened by fatigue and toil,
I knew what came the nearest to content.
For there at least my troubled flesh was free
From the gadfly Desire that plagued it so;
Discord and Strife were what I used to know,
Heartaches, deception, murderous jealousy;
By War transported far from all of these,
Amid the clash of arms I was at peace.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 32 sec read
- 49 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABBACDDCEFFEGH |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 596 |
Words | 108 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
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"Sonnet 10" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/322/sonnet-10>.
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