Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE IVORY GATE; AN UNFINISHED DRAFT, by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE IVORY GATE; AN UNFINISHED DRAFT, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: A thousand buds are breaking / their prisons silently
Last Line: The snow falls by thousands into the sea.
Subject(s): Nature; Spring


A thousand buds are breaking
Their prisons silently;
A thousand birds are making
Their nests in leafy tree;
A thousand babes are waking
On woman's breast to-day;
. . . .
Is born to man, to-day
Beneath the sun of May:
Whence come ye, babes of flowers, and, Children, whence come ye?

The snow falls by thousands into the sea;
A thousand blossoms covers
The forsaken forest,
And on its branches hovers
The lark's song thousandfold;
And maidens hear from lovers
A thousand secrets guessed
In June's abundant breast
Before and yet are blessed --
Whence, blossoms rich, birds bold, beloved maidens, whence come ye?

The snow falls by thousands into the sea;
A thousand flowers are shedding
Their leaves all dead and dry;
A thousand birds are threading
Their passage through the sky;
A thousand mourners treading
The tearful churchyard way
In funeral array:
Birds, whither fly ye? -- whither, dead, pass ye?
The snow falls by thousands into the sea.





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