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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


MISCONSTRUCTION; DRAMATIC SKETCH by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE

Poet Analysis

First Line: HOW MAN MISJUDGES MAN! THE OUTWARD SEEMING
Last Line: WHICH DAMNS THEM TO THE LEVEL OF THEIR SPEECH.

How man misjudges man! the outward seeming,
Gesture, or glance, or utterance that may jar
Against some petty, pampered, poor conceit,
Unworthy, undefined, is straightway made
To prove a vast obliquity of soul,
And shallow disputants, with ponderous show
Of judgment that provokes the wise to scorn,
Exhort the virtuous by the foul abuse
Which damns them to the level of their speech.



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