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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


PREMONITION by JOHN BANISTER TABB

First Line: AS WHEN AT MARY'S VOICE ELIZABETH
Last Line: THAT SING THE PRESENT IN FUTURITY.
Subject(s): OMENS; TIME;

As when at Mary's voice Elizabeth
Felt in her womb the restlessness of feet
That would outrun delaying birth, and greet
Alike unseen the Conqueror of Death:
So, at the hour of midnight wakes a breath
That in the womb of darkness moves to meet
The soul of Morning, and a silence sweet
As incense tells of one that worshippeth.
Yea, life forever in expectancy
Stands tip-toe on the utmost brink of time,
Hushing the past, and listening to hear
(As poets the inevitable rhyme)
A dream's fulfilment in the echoes clear
That sing the present in futurity.



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