Skip to content
Linespedia

Back-View - To D. F.

By William Ernest Henley

Topics: classic

I watched you saunter down the sand:     Serene and large, the golden weather     Flowed radiant round your peacock feather,     And glistered from your jewelled hand.     Your tawny hair, turned strand on strand     And bound with blue ribands together,     Streaked the rough tartan, green like heather,     That round your lissome shoulder spanned.     Your grace was quick my sense to seize:     The quaint looped hat, the twisted tresses,     The close-drawn scarf, and under these     The flowing, flapping draperies -     My thought an outline still caresses,     Enchanting, comic, Japanese!

AI analysis available. Enable JavaScript to interact.

About this line

"I watched you saunter down the sand:..."

This evocative piece by William Ernest Henley, titled "Back-View - To D. F.", represents a masterful exploration of classic. The lines capture a profound emotional resonance... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

Attribution & Rights

Author:William Ernest Henley

"I watched you saunter down the sand:..." 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.