Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TO GEORGE BORROW (LAVENGRO), by GEORGE HERBERT CLARKE


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO GEORGE BORROW (LAVENGRO), by                    
First Line: No 'book,' but your own heart, was written, borrow
Last Line: Knight of the ancient ruth and fearless fibre!
Subject(s): Borrow, George (1803-1881); Depression, Mental; Hope; Writing & Writers; Mentally Depressed; Mental Distress; Optimism


NO "book," but your own heart, was written, Borrow,
When pen and paper met,—that heart of hope
And havoc, English pride and world-wide sorrow;
Here on a breathless page two rascals cope,
Or here the Roman gypsy greets us smiling,
True to his tribe's inscrutable constraint;
That picture fades, and Murtagh moves beguiling,
Or Belle the bold, or Winifred the saint;
Down to Lavengro's dingle when we go
We go down also into melancholy,
And wrestle through the night with nameless woe,
With human horror and eternal folly.
O brood, or laugh, or rage from Thames to Tiber,—
Knight of the ancient ruth and fearless fibre!





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net