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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


FOR A FLYLEAF OF HERRICK'S POEMS by LIZETTE WOODWORTH REESE

Poet Analysis

First Line: IN DEVON, WHEN THE YEAR WAS NEW
Last Line: SAVED BY A SNATCH OF SONG.
Subject(s): DAFFODILS; HERRICK, ROBERT (1591-1674); POETRY & POETS;

IN Devon, when the year was new,
For London made he moan;
And all the windy daylight through,
Longed for her walls of stone.
The call of March was naught to him,
For London's rose more shrill;
And blowing sweet, and blowing slim,
Waxed worn the daffodil.
But when the soothing dusk came down,
He knew a mood more kind;
A vision empty of the town
Brake on his restless mind.
Betwixt the lanes and rectory door,
He seemed to lightly pass;
He saw the stalked gold once more
Brim all his orchard grass.
Oh, still the air of Devon thrills,
After two centuries long!
For here behold these daffodils
Saved by a snatch of song.



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