Classic and Contemporary Poetry
GO, LITTLE BOOK - THE ANCIENT PHRASE, by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON Poet Analysis Poet's Biography Last Line: Our distant faces reappear Alternate Author Name(s): Stevenson, Robert Lewis Balfour Subject(s): Travel | ||||||||
Go, little book''"the ancient phrase And still the daintiest''"go your ways, My Otto, over sea and land, Till you shall come to Nelly's hand. How shall I your Nelly know? By her blue eyes and her black brow, By her fierce and slender look, And by her goodness, little book! What shall I say when I come there? You shall speak her soft and fair: See''"you shall say''"the love they send To greet their unforgotten friend! Giant Adulpho yon shall sing The next, and then the cradled king And the four corners of the roof Then kindly bless; and to your perch aloof, Where Balzac all in yellow dressed And the dear Webster of the west Encircle the prepotent throne Of Shakespeare and of Calderon, Shall climb an upstart. There with these You shall give ear to breaking seas And windmills turning in the breeze, A distant undetermined din Without; and you shall hear within The blazing and the bickering logs, The crowing child, the yawning dogs, And ever agile, high and low, Our Nelly going to and fro. There shall you all silent sit, Till, when perchance the lamp is lit And the day's labour done, she takes Poor Otto down, and, warming for our sakes, Perchance beholds, alive and near, Our distant faces reappear. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...RICHARD, WHAT'S THAT NOISE? by RICHARD HOWARD LOOKING FOR THE GULF MOTEL by RICHARD BLANCO RIVERS INTO SEAS by LYNDA HULL DESTINATIONS by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN THE ONE WHO WAS DIFFERENT by RANDALL JARRELL THE CONFESSION OF ST. JIM-RALPH by DENIS JOHNSON SESTINA: TRAVEL NOTES by WELDON KEES WHERE THE TRACK VANISHES by GALWAY KINNELL A GOOD PLAY by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON |
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