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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ISLE OF MAN (2) by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

Poet Analysis

First Line: DID PANGS OF GRIEF FOR LENIENT TIME TOO KEEN
Last Line: SHRINK FROM THE DAILY SIGHT OF EARTH AND SKY!
Subject(s): ISLE OF MAN;

DID pangs of grief for lenient time too keen,
Grief that devouring waves had caused, or guilt
Which they had witnessed -- sway the man who built
This Homestead, placed where nothing could be seen,
Nought heard, of ocean troubled or serene?
A tired Ship-soldier on paternal land,
That o'er the channel holds august command,
The dwelling raised, -- a veteran Marine.
He, in disgust, turned from the neighbouring sea
To shun the memory of a listless life
That hung between two callings. May no strife
More hurtful here beset him, doomed though free,
Self-doomed, to worse inaction, till his eye
Shrink from the daily sight of earth and sky!




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