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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ROSE-MORTALS: 2. WHITE by SIDNEY LANIER

Poet Analysis

First Line: SOUL, GET THEE TO THE HEART
Last Line: BALTIMORE, 1875.

Soul, get thee to the heart
Of yonder tuberose: hide thee there --
There breathe the meditations of thine art
Suffused with prayer.
Of spirit grave yet light,
How fervent fragrances uprise
Pure-born from these most rich and yet most white
Virginities!
Mulched with unsavory death,
Grow, Soul! unto such white estate,
That virginal-prayerful art shall be thy breath,
Thy work, thy fate.
BALTIMORE, 1875.



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