Worldly Place
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| Worldly Place by |
| In this sonnet, he uses both the rhyme scheme and rhetorical pattern of an Italian Sonnet but varies from the decasyllabic line. He mentions Marcus Aurelius: who was emporer in the 2nd Century, a philosopher and writer of the Meditations, which was a favorite book of Arnolds; written in 1867 |
Even in a palace, life may be led well!
So spake the imperial sage, purest of men,
Marcus Aurelius. But the stifling den
Of common life, where, crowded up pell-mell,
Our freedom for a little bread we sell,
And drudge under some foolish master's ken
Who rates us if we peer outside our pen--
Match'd with a palace, is not this a hell?
Even in a palace! On his truth sincere,
Who spoke these words, no shadow ever came;
And when my ill-school'd spirit is aflame
Some nobler, ampler stage of life to win,
I'll stop, and say: "There were no succour here!
The aids to noble life are all within."
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This work published before January 1, 1923 is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago. |
