The Letter



EDWARD ROWLAND SILL, DIED FEBRUARY 27, 1887

I held his letter in my hand,
And even while I read
The lightning flashed across the land
The word that he was dead.

How strange it seemed! His living voice
Was speaking from the page
Those courteous phrases, tersely choice,
Light-hearted, witty, sage.

I wondered what it was that died!
The man himself was here,
His modesty, his scholar's pride,
His soul serene and clear.

These neither death nor time shall dim,
Still this sad thing must be--
Henceforth I may not speak to him,
Though he can speak to me!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 18, 2023

30 sec read
134

Quick analysis:

Scheme A BCBC DEDE FXFX GAGA
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 554
Words 101
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 1, 4, 4, 4, 4

Thomas Bailey Aldrich

 · 1907 · Boston

Thomas Bailey Aldrich was a poet novelist traveler and editor more…

All Thomas Bailey Aldrich poems | Thomas Bailey Aldrich Books

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