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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SONNET: 1, 14 by FREDERICK GODDARD TUCKERMAN

First Line: NOT PROUD OF STATION, NOR IN WORLDLY PELF
Last Line: NOT RED, BUT ROSE-DIM LIKE THE JACINTH FLOWER.

Not proud of station, nor in worldly pelf
Immoderately rich, nor rudely gay:
Gentle he was and generous in a way,
And with a wise direction ruled himself.
Blest Nature spread his table every day,
And so he lived, to all the blasts that woo
Responsible, as yon long locust spray
That waves and washes in the windy blue.
Nor wanted he a power to reach and reap
From hardest things a consequence and use,
And yet this friend of mine, in one small hour
Fell from himself, and was content to weep
For eyes love-dark, red lips, and cheeks in hues
Not red, but rose-dim like the jacinth flower.



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