Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TO THE COUNTESS OF BLESSINGTON, by GEORGE GORDON BYRON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO THE COUNTESS OF BLESSINGTON, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: You have ask'd for a verse - the request
Last Line: The string which was worthy the strain.
Alternate Author Name(s): Byron, Lord; Byron, 6th Baron
Subject(s): Poetry & Poets


You have ask'd for a verse -- the request,
In a rhymer, 't were strange to deny;
But my Hippocrene was but my breast,
And my feelings (its fountain) are dry.

Were I now as I was, I had sung
What Lawrence has pencill'd so well;
But the strain would expire on my tongue,
And the theme is too soft for my shell.

I am ashes where once I was fire,
And the bard in my bosom is dead;
What I loved I now merely admire,
And my heart is as grey as my head.

My life is not dated by years;
There are moments which act as a plough;
And there is not a furrow appears
But is deep in my soul as my brow.

Let the young and the brilliant aspire
To sing what I gaze on in vain;
For Sorrow has torn from my lyre
The string which was worthy the strain.





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