Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A PAINTED FAN, by LOUISE CHANDLER MOULTON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A PAINTED FAN, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Roses and butterflies snared on a fan
Last Line: The soft, south wind of memory blows.
Alternate Author Name(s): Chandler, Ellen Louise
Subject(s): Fans


Roses and butterflies snared on a fan,
All that is left of summer gone by;
Of swift, bright wings that flashed in the sun,
And loveliest blossoms that bloomed to die!
By what subtle spell did you lure them here,
Fixing a beauty that will not change,--
Roses whose petals never will fall,
Bright, swift wings that never will range?
Had you owned but the skill to snare as well
The swift-winged hours that came and went,
To prison the words that in music died,
And fix with a spell the heart's content,
Then had you been of magicians the chief;
And loved and lovers should bless your art,
If you could but have painted the soul of the thing,--
Not the rose alone, but the rose's heart!
Flown are those days with their winged delights,
As the odor is gone from the summer rose;
Yet still, whenever I wave my fan,
The soft, south wind of memory blows.




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