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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

OPUSCULUM FOR A VERY SMALL ALBUM by JOHN HENRY NEWMAN

Poet Analysis

First Line: FAIR COUSIN, THY PAGE
Last Line: I A POET.
FAIR Cousin, thy page
is small to encage
the thoughts which engage
the mind of a sage,
such as I am;

'Twere in teaspoon to take
the whole Genevese lake,
or a lap-dog to make
the white Elephant sacred
in Siam.

Yet inadequate though
to the terms strange and solemn
that figure in polysyllabical
row
in a treatise:

Still, true words and plain,
of the heart, not the brain,
in affectionate strain,
this book to contain
very meet is.

So I promise to be
a good Cousin to thee,
and to keep safe the secret
I heard, although ev'ry
one know it;

With a lyrical air
my kind thoughts I would dare,
and offer whate'er
beseems the news, were
I a poet.



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