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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


A GREETING by HENRY AUSTIN DOBSON

Poet Analysis

First Line: BUT ONCE OR TWICE WE MET, TOUCHED HANDS
Last Line: BUT ONCE OR TWICE!
Subject(s): TIME;

(TO W. C.)

BUT once or twice we met, touched hands.
To-day between us both expands
A waste of tumbling waters wide, --
A waste by me as yet untried,
Vague with the doubt of unknown lands.

Time like a despot speeds his sands:
A year he blots, a day he brands;
We wa ed, we talked by Thamis' side
But once or twice.

What makes a friend? What filmy strands
Are these that turn to iron bands?
What knot is this so firmly tied
That naught but Fate can now divide? --
Ah, these are things one understands
But once or twice!




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