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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SONNET TO DUNNINGTON CASTLE: 2 by ROBERT SOUTHEY

Poet Analysis

First Line: AS SLOW AND SOLEMN YONDER DEEPENING KNELL
Last Line: HEEDS HOW THE FAITHLESS BAUBLE MELTS AWAY.
Subject(s): DEATH; FAITH; MORTALITY; SONNET (AS LITERARY FORM); YOUTH; DEAD, THE; BELIEF; CREED;

AS slow and solemn yonder deepening knell
Tolls through the sullen evening's shadowy gloom,
Alone and pensive, in my silent room,
On man and on mortality I dwell.
And as the harbinger of death I hear,
Frequent and full, much do I love to muse
On life's distemper'd scenes of hope and fear;
And passion varying her chameleon hues,
And man pursuing pleasure's empty shade,
'Till death dissolves the vision. So the child
In youth's gay morn with wondering pleasure smil'd,
As with the shining ice well-pleas'd he play'd;
Nor, as he grasps the crystal in his play,
Heeds how the faithless bauble melts away.



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