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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


TO LIFE - A DEFIANT GESTURE by ELLEN MAGRATH CARROLL

First Line: THE THINGS THAT ARE MINE, ARE MINE
Last Line: AT THE QUIET CLOSE OF DAY.
Subject(s): LIFE;

The things that are mine, are mine,
You can not take them away:
Things like the hush of dreaming night,
The brilliance of sun-swept day.

All of your bicker and strife,
The clash of your angry words,
Deafens me not to the river's song,
The music of mating birds.

O, you can wound me, I know,
Cripple my body with pain:
When you have scourged and crucified,
What at the end is your gain?

The things that are mine, are mine,
You can not take them away:
Unto Death, my lord, I shall render my gifts
At the quiet close of day.



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