Allouette
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
Singing larks I saw for sale -
(Ah! the pain of it)
Plucked and ready to impale
On a roasting spit;
Happy larks that summer-long
Stormed the radiant sky,
Adoration in their song . . .
Packed to make a pie.>
Hark! from springs of joy unseen
Spray their jewelled notes.
Tangle them in nets of green,
Twist their lyric throats;
Clip their wings and string them tight,
Stab them with a skewer,
All to tempt the apptite
Of the epicure.
Shade of Shelley! Come not nigh
This accursèd spot,
Where for sixpence one can buy
Skylarks for the pot;
Dante, paint a blacker hell,
Plunge in deeper darks
Wretches who can slay and sell
Sunny-hearted larks.
You who eat, you are the worst:
By internal pains,
May you ever be accurst
Who pluck these poor remains.
But for you wingèd joy would soar
To heaven from the sod:
In ecstasy a lark would pour
Its gratitude to God.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 47 sec read
- 113 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABCDCD EFEFXXBX DGDGHFHX XIBIJKJK |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 832 |
Words | 159 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
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"Allouette" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/31975/allouette>.
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