Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, CHILD AND HER STATUE, by LOUIS UNTERMEYER



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

CHILD AND HER STATUE, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Your living glass is this unpolished stone
Last Line: Imprisoned in the stone, will still be free.
Alternate Author Name(s): Lewis, Michael
Subject(s): Statues


Your living glass is this unpolished stone
That looks at you with unappraising eyes.
Only the smile is different. It is wise
As things inanimate are wise, from having grown
In fire and ice ten thousand years alone.
You will turn shrewd, change with the volatile skies,
Cheapen yourself, snatch at the moment's prize . . .
Knowing all this, its smile remains its own.
Here where the light is almost leaping through,
The bust is real as you will never be.
You will grow harder than this marble, true
To nothing long, not even your effigy;
While all the impulsive radiance that was you,
Imprisoned in the stone, will still be free.





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