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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ENVOI by CHARLES WILLIAM BRODRIBB

First Line: HERE LIES A WRETCH, ARTERIALLY ILL
Last Line: NOW STILL HE SITS IN SIGHT OF SOUTHERN TIDES.
Subject(s): CEMETERIES; LONDON; MEMORY; GRAVEYARDS;

Here lies a wretch, arterially ill,
Who forty years frequented Ludgate Hill,
From whence, as furtively as any mouse,
He hopped into a neighbouring printing house,
And spent his days there, and his nights within,
Or slept upon a floor in Lincoln's Inn.
Cockney he was, and loved to see St. Paul's,
Pauline himself, though schooled without the walls;
And held all other places cheap and vile
Save London City's famous one square-mile,
And the last church he went to was St. Bride's.
Now still he sits in sight of southern tides.



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