Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ON FINDING MYSELF A SOLDIER by ROBERT RANKE GRAVES

Poet Analysis

First Line: MY BUD WAS BACKWARD TO UNCLOSE
Last Line: A HEART MORE RED THAN BLOOD.
Subject(s): WORLD WAR I; FIRST WORLD WAR;

My bud was backward to unclose,
A pretty baby-queen,
Furled petal-tips of creamy rose
Caught in a clasp of green.

Somehow, I never thought to doubt
That when her heart should show
She would be coloured in as out,
Like the flush of dawn on snow:

But yesterday aghast I found.
Where last I'd left the bud,
Twelve flamy pearls ringed around
A heart more red than blood.



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