Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MEMORY by LOUISE BOGAN

Poet Analysis

First Line: DO NOT GUARD THIS AS RICH STUFF WITHOUT MARK
Last Line: THAT ANY SPADE MAY STRIKE.
Subject(s): MEMORY;
Do not guard this as rich stuff without mark
Closed in a cedarn dark,
Nor lay it down with tragic masks and greaves
Licked by the tongues of leaves.
Nor let it be as eggs under the wings
Of helpless startled things,
Nor encompassed by song, nor any glory
Perverse and transitory.

Rather, like shards and straw upon coarse ground,
Of little worth when found:
Rubble in gardens, it and stones alike,
That any spade may strike.



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