Winding Wool
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
She'd bring to me a skein of wool
And beg me to hold out my hands;
so on my pipe I cease to pull
And watch her twine the shining strands
Into a ball so snug and neat,
Perchance a pair of socks to knit
To comfort my unworthy feet,
Or pullover my girth to fit.
As to the winding I would sway,
A poem in my head would sing,
And I would watch in dreamy way
The bright yarn swiftly slendering.
The best I liked were coloured strands
I let my pensive pipe grow cool . . .
Two active and two passive hands,
So busy wining shining wool.
Alas! Two of those hands are cold,
And in these days of wrath and wrong,
I am so wearyful and old,
I wonder if I've lived too long.
So in my loneliness I sit
And dream of sweet domestic rule . . .
When gentle women used to knit,
And men were happy winding wool.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 48 sec read
- 122 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABCDCD EFEFBGBA HIHIDGDA |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 775 |
Words | 161 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8 |
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"Winding Wool" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/32751/winding-wool>.
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