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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SONNET: 1, 9 by FREDERICK GODDARD TUCKERMAN

First Line: YET WEAR WE ON; THE DEEP LIGHT DISALLOWED
Last Line: THE OVERBEARING BRIGHTNESS, HEAR A VOICE?

Yet wear we on, the deep light disallowed
That lit our youth; in years no longer young
We wander silently, and brood among
Dead graves, and tease the sunbreak and the cloud
For import: were it not better yet to fly,
To follow those that go before the throng,
Reasoning from stone to star, and easily
Exampling this existence? Or shall I--
Who yield slow reverence where I cannot see
And gather gleams where'er by chance or choice
My footsteps draw, though brokenly dispensed--
Come into light at last? or suddenly
Struck to the knees like Saul, one arm against
The overbearing brightness, hear a voice?



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