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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ELEGIAC SONNET: 62. WRITTEN ON PASSING BY MOON-LIGHT ... by CHARLOTTE SMITH

Poet Analysis

First Line: WHILE THUS I WANDER, CHEERLESS AND UNBLEST
Last Line: I ONLY FLY FROM DOUBT -- TO MEET DESPAIR!

THROUGH A VILLAGE, WHILE THE GROUND WAS COVERED WITH SNOW

While thus I wander, cheerless and unblest,
And find in change of place but change of pain;
In tranquil sleep the village labourers rest,
And taste that quiet I pursue in vain!
Hush'd is the hamlet now, and faintly gleam
The dying embers, from the casement low
Of the thatch'd cottage; while the Moon's wan beam
Lends a new lustre to the dazzling snow.
O'er the cold waste, amid the freezing night,
Scarce heeding whither, desolate I stray;
For me, pale Eye of Evening, thy soft light
Leads to no happy home; my weary way
Ends but in sad vicissitudes of care:
I only fly from doubt -- to meet despair!



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