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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


TO THE MASTER OF BALLIOL by ALFRED TENNYSON

Poet Analysis

First Line: DEAR MASTER IN OUR CLASSIC TOWN
Last Line: STARK AND DARK IN HIS FUNERAL FIRE.
Subject(s): OXFORD UNIVERSITY;

I

DEAR Master in our classic town,
You, loved by all the younger gown
There at Balliol,
Lay your Plato for one minute down,

II

And read a Grecian tale re-told,
Which, cast in later Grecian mould,
Quintus Calaber
Somewhat lazily handled of old;

III

And on this white midwinter day --
For have the far-off hymns of May,
All her melodies,
All her harmonies echo'd away? --

IV

To-day, before you turn again
To thoughts that lift the soul of men,
Hear my cataract's
Downward thunder in hollow and glen,

V

Till, led by dream and vague desire,
The woman, gliding toward the pyre,
Find her warrior
Stark and dark in his funeral fire.





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