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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


DIRGE FOR FIDELE by WILLIAM COLLINS (1721-1759)

Poet Analysis

First Line: TO FAIR FIDELE'S GRASSY TOMB
Last Line: AND MOURNED, TILL PITY'S SELF BE DEAD.
Subject(s): DRAMATISTS; PLAYS & PLAYWRIGHTS ; POETRY & POETS; SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM (1564-1616); DRAMATISTS;

To fair Fidele's grassy tomb
Soft maids and village hinds shall bring
Each opening sweet of earliest bloom,
And ritle all the breathing Spring.

No wailing ghost shall dare appear
To vex with shrieks this quiet grove:
But shepherd lads assemble here,
And melting virgins own their love.

No withered witch shall here be seen;
No goblins lead their nightly crew:
The female fays shall haunt the green,
And dress thy grave with pearly dew!

The red-breast oft at evening hours
Shall kindly lend his little aid;
With hoary moss, and gathered flowers,
To deck the ground where thou art laid.

When howling winds, and beating rain,
In tempests shake the sylvan cell;
Or 'midst the chase on every plain,
The tender thought on thee shall dwell.

Each lonely scene shall thee restore,
For thee the tear be duly shed;
Beloved till life can charm no more,
And mourned, till Pity's self be dead.



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