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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SONNET; OXFORD, 1916 by GEORGE SANTAYANA

Poet Analysis

First Line: DARKLING AND GROPING, THIN OF BLOOD, WE WAGE
Last Line: THE OLD THAT ERRED AND THE YOUNG THAT DIED?
Subject(s): WORLD WAR I; FIRST WORLD WAR;

Darkling and groping, thin of blood, we wage
Mechanic war: one vast crepuscular day
Broods o'er the world; our very grief is grey;
We wear no weeds; we loathe to tread the stage.
Birds of all feathers in that motley cage
Once chirp'd and sang their vernal longings gay;
More life than is in life was in the play;
More sweetness than in wisdom in the sage.
When will return to earth that jocund year
With marigolds and daisies golden-eye'd,
Passionate lovers, and kings crown'd in pride?
When will that teeming summer reappear
And hide together in one flowery bier
The old that erred and the young that died?



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