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SONNETS OF MANHOOD: 10. LONELY by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913)

First Line: ALONE! - AND YET THE POET HATH THE SUN
Last Line: WAITING THE GOLD-WINGED WORD NO WOMAN SPEAKS?
Subject(s): SOLITUDE; LONELINESS;

Alone!—And yet the poet hath the sun,—
And for his lonely gaze the stars are fair,
And the sweet June-wind dallieth with his hair,
And strange wild sea-shores hath his footing won.
But ah! the sadness,—to be known of none
Save of the cold-lipped gruesome bride, Despair!
The weight of genius-thought alone to bear;
Alone,—alone; till life and death be done.

The poet hath the roses and the sky,
But not the sympathy his spirit seeks.
Is it a soul-delivering thing to lie
Amid sea-poppies by grey winding creeks
Or on the hills whereo'er the white mists fly,—
Waiting the gold-winged word no woman speaks?



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