Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE PAST, by RALPH WALDO EMERSON



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE PAST, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: The debt is paid
Last Line: Alter or mend eternal fact.
Subject(s): Past


The debt is paid,
The verdict said,
The Furies laid,
The plague is stayed,
All fortunes made;
Turn the key and bolt the door,
Sweet is death forevermore.
Nor haughty hope, nor swart chagrin,
Nor murdering hate, can enter in.
All is now secure and fast;
Not the gods can shake the past;
Flies-to the adamantine door
Bolted down forevermore.
None can re-enter there --
No thief so politic,
No Satan with a royal trick
Steal in by window, chink, or hole,
To bind or unbind, add what lacked,
Insert a leaf, or forge a name,
New-face or finish what is packed,
Alter or mend eternal fact.





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