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MAN, A TORCH by GEORGE MOSES HORTON

Poet Analysis

First Line: BLOWN UP WITH PAINFUL CARE AND HARD TO LIGHT
Last Line: THE BRAVE'S RETREAT AND END OF EV'RY CARE.

Blown up with painful care and hard to light,
A glimmering torch blown in a moment out,
Suspended by a web, an angler's bait,
Floating at stake along the stream of chance,
Snatch'd from its hook by the fish of poverty,
A silent cavern is his last abode;
The king's repository veil'd with gloom,
The umbrage of a thousand oziers bowed,
The couch of hallowed bones, the grave's asylum,
The brave's retreat and end of ev'ry care.



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