Skip to content
Linespedia

In Hospital - XVIIII - Scrubber

By William Ernest Henley

Topics: classic

She's tall and gaunt, and in her hard, sad face     With flashes of the old fun's animation     There lowers the fixed and peevish resignation     Bred of a past where troubles came apace.     She tells me that her husband, ere he died,     Saw seven of their children pass away,     And never knew the little lass at play     Out on the green, in whom he's deified.     Her kin dispersed, her friends forgot and gone,     All simple faith her honest Irish mind,     Scolding her spoiled young saint, she labours on:     Telling her dreams, taking her patients' part,     Trailing her coat sometimes:    and you shall find     No rougher, quainter speech, nor kinder heart.

AI analysis available. Enable JavaScript to interact.

About this line

"She's tall and gaunt, and in her hard, sad face..."

William Ernest Henley's contribution to classic is further solidified by the brilliance found in "In Hospital - XVIIII - Scrubber"... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

Attribution & Rights

Author:William Ernest Henley

"She's tall and gaunt, and in her hard, sad face..." by William Ernest Henley

For usage rights, copyright concerns, or to report an issue with this content, please visit our Copyright & Report page.

Related lines

"What have I done for you,     England, my England?     What is there I would not do,     England, my own?     With your glorious eyes austere,"

"(Ob. October 30, 1897)     He looked half-parson and half-skipper: a quaint,     Beautiful blend, with blue eyes good to see,     And old-world wh"

"Out of the night that covers me,     Black as the Pit from pole to pole,     I thank whatever gods may be     For my unconquerable soul."

"Blue-eyed and bright of face but waning fast     Into the sere of virginal decay,     I view her as she enters, day by day,     As a sweet suns"

"Here morning in the ploughman's songs is met     Ere yet one footstep shows in all the sky,     And twilight in the east, a doubt as yet,     S"

"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

William Ernest Henley

About William Ernest Henley

William Ernest Henley (1849–1903) was an English poet, critic, and editor best known for his poem "Invictus" ("I am the master of my fate / I am the captain of my soul"). Written while recovering from tuberculosis of the bone, it has become one of the most quoted poems of courage and resilience.

Full Bibliography
Continue Reading

"What have I done for you,     England, my England?..."

Weekly Poetic Insight

Join our literary Sanctuary

Get the most inspiring lines, poetic analysis, and secret shayaris delivered to your inbox every Sunday.