If you, Free Verse, exult in broken chains, In flinging far the fetters of the past, The metric bonds that held your fancy fast And cabined you from bold adventurous gains, Think not, while passion pulses in your veins, You, only, venture forth into the vast, You, only, hear the challenge of the blast, And dare the beckoning of distant mains. Within the Sonnet's narrow bound austere Is room for life and death, for love and hate; The mightiest souls have found full margin here For wit, for wisdom, and for keen debate. Why, Shakespeare, ranging through the human sphere, Moored his rare spoil within my friendly strait. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DOMESDAY BOOK: HENRY BAKER, AT NEW YORK by EDGAR LEE MASTERS METRICAL FEET by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE THE HOUSE OF LIFE: 78. BODY'S BEAUTY by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI AVE MARIA GRATIA PLENA by OSCAR WILDE THE CANDLE by GHALIB IBN RIBAH AL-HAJJAM PRAYER AFTER YOUTH by MAXWELL ANDERSON SKYFARER by ANNA EMILIA BAGSTAD TWELVE SONNETS: 12. AFTER BATTLE by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) |