Late, Late, so Late

Late, Late, so Late

Original Text
Alfred Tennyson, Idylls of the King (Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, 1859). tenn T366 I496 1859 (Fisher Library).
2Late, late, so late! but we can enter still.
3Too late, too late! ye cannot enter now.
4    No light had we: for that we do repent;
5And learning this, the bridegroom will relent.
6Too late, too late! ye cannot enter now.
7    No light: so late! and dark and chill the night!
8O, let us in, that we may find the light!
9Too late, too late: ye cannot enter now.
10    Have we not heard the bridgegroom is so sweet?
11O, let us in, tho' late, to kiss his feet!
12No, no, too late! ye cannot enter now."

Notes

1] From "Guinevere" and based on the parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins. See St. Matthew 25. Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1859
RPO poem Editors
W. J. Alexander; William Hall Clawson
RPO Edition
RP (1916), pp. 350-51; RPO 1997.