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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SICKLINESS by JAMES OPPENHEIM

First Line: HERE IS STRENGTH, HERE
Last Line: AND THE BUGLE OF THAT MANNER SHALL CALL OUT THE REGIMENTS OF MY TENTED SOUL.
Subject(s): SICKNESS; ILLNESS;

HERE is strength, here,
In my own breast:
If I go whining to the Earth and the stars,
And beseech help of a sweet invisible one in the air about me,
Let me also go where I belong:
Among children and invalids.

Off with this habit of sickness!
Let me puff out my cheeks and blow away the vapors of sadness and downheartedness!
The erect pride shall beget a manner of triumph:
And the bugle of that manner shall call out the regiments of my tented soul.



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