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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


COWSLIPS by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR

Poet Analysis

First Line: WITH ROSY HAND A LITTLE GIRL PRESS'D DOWN
Last Line: "AND WHAT HAS SHONE FOR YOU, BY YOU MUST DIE!"

WITH rosy hand a little girl press'd down
A boss of fresh-cull'd cowslips in a rill:
Often as they sprang up again, a grown
Show'd she dislik'd resistance to her will:
But when they droop'd their heads and shone much less,
She shook them to and fro, and threw them by,
And tripp'd away. "Ye loathe the heaviness
Ye love to cause, my little girls!" thought I,
"And what has shone for you, by you must die!"



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