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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ON LEAVING TAORMINA by WILLIAM ALEXANDER PERCY

First Line: O ALMOND TREES, BENEATH WHOSE FRUITED SHADE
Last Line: TAKE ON, I PRAY, ONE SHADE OF PINK THE MORE.
Subject(s): LOVE; SEA; SOUL; SUMMER; TREES; OCEAN;

O almond trees, beneath whose fruited shade
I lay these summer days and saw the sea,
The hills of Mola, and Calabria's jade,
Good-bye! Perhaps the god that yielded me
Such luxury of happiness, these clear
And brimming hours with you, will, in his grace,
Yield none again; and, summer, finding here
Your branches green, will find again the place
I love, not me. Thro' all the leafy years,
Others will come and love your loveliness;
Love with a heart as gay and free of fears
As mine, and, leaving, leave their souls no less.
But, ah, for me, when spring stands in the door,
Take on, I pray, one shade of pink the more.



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