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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
HAD I THE CHOICE (AFTER WALT WHITMAN), by GEORGE SANTAYANA Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Had I the choice to emulate the verse Last Line: And leave its odor there. Subject(s): Poetry & Poets | |||
Had I the choice to emulate the verse Of poets stately, beautiful, sublime; Could I be Homer's equal, to rehearse The wars and warriors of heroic time, Hector, Achilles, Ajax; had I art The woe-entangled Hamlet to declare, Or unfold Lear's, Othello's, inmost heart, Or sing as Tennyson of ladies fair; -- Metre and wit the best, and minstrel fingers, And choice conceit to wield in perfect rhyme, Delight of singers: -- These, these, O sea, all these I gladly gave, Would you the undulation of one wave, Its trick to me transfer, its sigh, its prayer, Or breathe one breath of yours upon my verse And leave its odor there. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ENVY OF OTHER PEOPLE'S POEMS by ROBERT HASS THE NINETEENTH CENTURY AS A SONG by ROBERT HASS THE FATALIST: TIME IS FILLED by LYN HEJINIAN OXOTA: A SHORT RUSSIAN NOVEL: CHAPTER 192 by LYN HEJINIAN LET ME TELL YOU WHAT A POEM BRINGS by JUAN FELIPE HERRERA JUNE JOURNALS 6/25/88 by JUAN FELIPE HERRERA FOLLOW ROZEWICZ by JUAN FELIPE HERRERA HAVING INTENDED TO MERELY PICK ON AN OIL COMPANY, THE POEM GOES AWRY by HICOK. BOB |
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