A Minor Chord by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
The poem explores the theme of unrequited love and its devastating consequences on a person's life. The narrator reflects on a past romantic relationship that has ended, leaving them with a deep sense of sorrow and longing. The "minor chord" referred to in the title symbolizes the melancholic and plaintive tone of the narrator's emotions.
By Ella Wheeler Wilcox · First published 1886 · Genre: Poetry, Melancholy, Philosophical · 154 words
First lines
I heard a strain of music in the street- / A wandering waif of sound. And then straightway / A nameless desolation filled the day. / The great green earth that had been fair and sweet, / Seemed but a tomb; the life I thought replete / With joy, grew lonely for a vanished May. / Forgotten sorrows resurrected lay / Like bleaching skeletons about my feet.
Above me stretched the silent, suffering sky, / Dumb with vast anguish for departed suns / That brutal Time to nothingness has hurled. / The daylight was as sad as smiles that lie / Upon the wistful, unkissed mouths of nuns, / And I stood prisoned in an awful world.
What this Textopian page supports
A Minor Chord is listed on Textopian as a poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, dated 1886 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Ella Wheeler Wilcox
- Date: 1886 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Poetry, Melancholy, Philosophical, Romantic
- Length: 154 words
- Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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- Work identity for A Minor Chord by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
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Genres
- Poetry — The text is structured in verse and employs poetic devices such as rhyme and meter.
- Melancholy — The themes revolve around sorrow, desolation, and a sense of loss.
- Philosophical — The work contemplates existential themes and the passage of time.
- Romantic — There is a focus on emotional depth and the beauty of nature, albeit in a sorrowful context.
Tags
Poetry · American Literature · Romance · Love · Relationships · Marriage · Infidelity · Deception · Heartbreak · Sorrow · Grief · Loss