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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SONNET: 5, 1 by FREDERICK GODDARD TUCKERMAN

First Line: BUT NATURE WHERE SHE GIVES MUST GIVE IN KIND
Last Line: IN THE WHOLE PAST OR WHAT REMAINS TO BE.

But Nature where she gives must give in kind,
Grant to the rich and from the poor withhold;
And much that we in manifest behold
Is faint to some, while other some still find
Truths--that to our sense may be veiled and furled--
Published as light, notorious as wind.
But the old Mother moves about her fire.
Replenishes its flame and feeds the world
And so fulfils her births and offices--
Causal or consequential cares not she
Or ortive or abortive: her desire
Is but to serve, and her necessity.
The invention and authority are His,
In the whole past or what remains to be.



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