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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


TO CONSCRIPTS by ALICE MEYNELL

Poet Analysis

First Line: YOU 'MADE A VIRTUE OF NECESSITY'
Last Line: THAT HEAVENLY PARADOX.

"@3Compel them to come in@1." -- ST. LUKE'S GOSPEL

YOU "made a virtue of necessity"
By divine sanction; you, the loth, the grey,
The random, gentle, unconvinced; O be
The crowned! -- you may, you may.

You, the compelled, be feasted! You, the caught,
Be freemen of the gates that word unlocks!
Accept your victory from that unsought,
That heavenly paradox.



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