Below, you’ll find the full poem ‘Now Let No Charitable Hope’ by Elinor Morton Wylie.
Now let no charitable hope
Confuse my mind with images
Of eagle and of antelope:
I am by nature none of these.
I was, being human, born alone;
I am, being woman, hard beset;
I live by squeezing from a stone
What little nourishment I get.
In masks outrageous and austere
The years go by in single file;
But none has merited my fear,
And none has quite escaped my smile.
Elinor Morton Wylie
Thanks for reading!
You can find the complete Cambridge IGCSE Poetry course (2022-2025) by clicking here.
For a limited time, our Cambridge IGCSE Poetry course is 15% off; just use the code ‘CAMBRIDGE’ at checkout!
For all our English Literature and Language courses, click here.