Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, MILTONIC, by MAVIS CLARE BARNETT



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MILTONIC, by                    
First Line: Poet thou shalt have to drink
Last Line: Water in a wooden bowl.
Subject(s): Milton, John (1608-1674); Water


Poet, thou shalt have to drink
Water in a wooden bowl.
There shall be a friend for thee:
The lonely one within thy soul.
But the grass about thy door
Men called grass in Babylon,
And from a simple shore like this
Astounding ships have gone.

Drunk with water thou hast sung
Of the gods in epic song;
Loud bronze battles of the world,
Helen's old, immortal wrong.
Thou hast sung how once a child
Roused in a child love mystical;
And how a blind old man has seen
The flaming angel fall.

Whoso would sing of little loves
Within a little lyric line
May dance and drowse to his content,
He may drink the purple wine.
But thou who hast plucked a leaf of grass
And found therein thy happy soul,
Thou shalt only have to drink
Water in a wooden bowl.





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