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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS: PART 3: 1. by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

Poet Analysis

First Line: I SAW THE FIGURE OF A LOVELY MAID
Last Line: OF DISSOLUTION, MELTED INTO AIR.
Subject(s): LOVE;

I SAW the figure of a lovely Maid
Seated alone beneath a darksome tree,
Whose fondly-overhanging canopy
Set off her brightness with a pleasing shade.
No Spirit was she; 'that' my heart betrayed,
For she was one I loved exceedingly;
But while I gazed in tender reverie
(Or was it sleep that with my Fancy played?)
The bright corporeal presence -- form and face --
Remaining still distinct grew thin and rare,
Like sunny mist; -- at length the golden hair,
Shape, limbs, and heavenly features, keeping pace
Each with the other in a lingering race
Of dissolution, melted into air.



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