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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


BACH AND THE LADY by WYSTAN HUGH AUDEN

Poem Explanation Poet Analysis

First Line: DO NOT SNEER, STRANGER, IF ONE BY ONE
Last Line: THE COMMENT THAT HER SHOULDERS MAKE

Do not sneer, stranger, if one by one,
The crowd who followed her are gone
To strangle their own shadows, or lie
Bitterly with a harlot. I
Have heard in a Bach fugue some phrase,
Perplexed with flowers and sunlight, wake
The green-leaved morning to her praise;
More generous, pitiful than we
However casual may be
The comment that her shoulders make.






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