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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


CHANNING by AMOS BRONSON ALCOTT

Poem Explanation

First Line: CHANNING! MY MENTOR WHILST MY THOUGHT WAS YOUNG
Last Line: O REALIZE HIS PENTECOSTAL DREAM!
Subject(s): CHANNING, WILLIAM ELLERY (1780-1842);

CHANNING! my Mentor whilst my thought was young,
And I the votary of fair liberty,--
How hung I then upon thy glowing tongue,
And thought of love and truth as one with thee!
Thou wast the inspirer of a nobler life,
When I with error waged unequal strife,
And from its coils thy teaching set me free.
Be ye, his followers, to his leading true,
Nor privilege covet, nor the wider sway;
But hold right onward in his loftier way,
As best becomes, and is his rightful due.
If learning 's yours,--gifts God doth least esteem,--
Beyond all gifts was his transcendent view:
O realize his Pentecostal dream!



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