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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


O.M.B. (DIED NOVEMBER, 1874) by FORD MADOX BROWN

First Line: AS ONE WHO STRIVES FROM SOME FAST STEAMER'S
Last Line: SOME VESTIGE OF YOUR THOUGHT OUTSPANS THE ABYSM!
Subject(s): BROWN, OLIVER MADOX (1855-1874);

As one who strives from some fast steamer's side
To note amid the backward-spinning foam
And keep in view some separate wreath therefrom,
That cheats him even the while he views it glide
(Merging in other foam-tracks stretching wide),
So strive we to keep clear that day our home
First saw you riven -- a memory thence to roam,
A shatter'd blossom on the eternal tide!
O broken promises that show'd so fair!
O morning sun of wit set in despair!
O brows made smooth as with the Muse's chrism!
O Oliver! ourselves Death's cataclysm
Must soon o'ertake -- but not in vain -- not where
Some vestige of your thought outspans the abysm!



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