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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE DWELLING by CLINTON SCOLLARD

First Line: I MAY NOT DWELL WHERE OLIVES SHAKE
Last Line: I MAY BUT DWELL WITH MEMORY!
Subject(s): HOME; MEMORY;

I MAY not dwell where olives shake
Their silver o'er the silver lake,
Nor where the citron sheds its snow
At dawning or at sunset-glow,
And nightingales their music make!

I may not dwell where palm-trees set
Against the sky their silhouette,
Nor where the silences are filled
With attars cunningly distilled
Of blended rose and mignonette!

What matters it where'er it be
My dwelling lies, by land or sea,
If, while the days of life slip past
Toward the great ocean, vague and vast,
I may but dwell with Memory!



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