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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


DEDICATION by JOHN BANISTER TABB

First Line: AS WATERS FROM THE LOWLIEST VALLEYS BREATHE
Last Line: FAIN WOULD I PLACE A TIMOROUS HAND IN THINE.

As waters from the lowliest valleys breathe
Their tribute vapors to the mountain height,
Where each, anon, transfigured of the light,
Enkindles all the parent wave beneath;
So, these my misty reveries I wreathe
And waft them to the summit of thy sight,
Till in that sunshine, shriven from the night,
A mirrored benediction they bequeath.
For long thy lordly Eminence hath stood
Among the favored of the Olympian Nine,
Upon whose ear thy psaltering voice renewed
The ancient echoes of the classic shrine,
Whereon the while my tottering steps intrude,
Fain would I place a timorous hand in thine.



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