Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SONNET: THE RARITY OF GENIUS, by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH Poem Explanation Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: While yet my lip was breathing youth's first breath Last Line: If she spoil thousands making one or two. Subject(s): Genius | ||||||||
WHILE yet my lip was breathing youth's first breath, Too young to feel the utmost of their spell I saw Medea and Phaedra in Rachel: Later I saw the great Elizabeth. Rachel, Ristori -- we shall taste of death Ere we meet spirits like these: in one age dwell Not many such; a century may tell Its hundred beads before it braid a wreath For two so queenly foreheads. If it take AEons to form a diamond, grain on grain, AEons to crystallize its fire and dew -- By what slow processes must Nature make Her Shakespeares and her Raffaels? Great the gain If she spoil thousands making one or two. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...GENIUS CHILD by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES THE DESTINY OF GENIUS by MARIA ABDY ON A PIECE OF UNWROUGHT PIPECLAY by JOHN FREDERICK BRYANT MICHELANGELO by RHYS CARPENTER EPISTLE TO LORD BYRON: VIRTUE PROTESTS by JOSEPH COTTLE AFTER THE RAIN by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH AN ALPINE PICTURE by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH AN ODE ON THE UNVEILING OF THE SHAW MEMORIA BOSTON COMMON, MAY 31, 1897 by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH |
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