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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE POWER-PRESS by JOHN GODFREY SAXE

First Line: STRANGE IS THE SOUND WHEN FIRST THE NOTES BEGIN
Last Line: THE MORTAL NURTURE OF TH' IMMORTAL MIND!

STRANGE is the sound when first the notes begin
Where human voices blend with Vulcan's din;
The click, the clank, the clangor, and the sound
Of rattling rollers in their rapid round;
The whizzing belt, the sharp metallic jar,
Like clashing spears in fierce chivalric war;
The whispering birth of myriad flying leaves,
Gathered, anon, in countless motley sheaves,
Then scattered far, as on the winged wind,
The mortal nurture of th' immortal mind!



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