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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


NEVER AGAIN by ADELAIDE ANNE PROCTER

First Line: NEVER AGAIN!' VOW HEARTS WHEN REUNITED
Last Line: "NEVER, NEVER AGAIN, NEVER AGAIN!"
Subject(s): HEARTS; HOPE; LOVE; SOUL; OPTIMISM;

"NEVER again!" vow hearts when reunited,
"Never again shall love be cast aside;
Forever now the shadow has departed;
Nor bitter sorrow, veiled in scornful pride,
Shall feign indifference, or affect disdain, --
Never, O Love, again, never again!"

"Never again!" so sobs, in broken accents,
A soul laid prostrate at a holy shrine, --
"Once more, once more, forgive, O Lord, and pardon,
My wayward life shall bend to love divine;
And nevermore shall sin its whiteness stain, --
Never, O God, again, never again!"

"Never again!" so speaketh one forsaken,
In the blank desolate passion of despair, --
"Never again shall the bright dream I cherished
Delude my heart, for bitter truth is there, --
The angel, Hope, shall still thy cruel pain
Never again, my heart, never again!"

"Never again!" so speaks the sudden silence,
When round the hearth gathers each well-known face,
But one is missing, and no future presence,
However dear, can fill that vacant place;
Forever shall the burning thought remain, --
"Never, beloved, again! never again!"

"Never again!" so -- but beyond our hearing --
Ring out far voices fading up the sky;
Never again shall earthly care and sorrow
Weigh down the wings that bear those souls on high;
"Listen, O earth, and hear that glorious strain, --
Never, never again, never again!"



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