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A DEDICATION, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Dear, near and true - no truer time himself
Last Line: Which in our winter woodland looks a flower.
Alternate Author Name(s): Tennyson, Lord Alfred; Tennyson, 1st Baron; Tennyson Of Aldworth And Farringford, Baron
Subject(s): Tennyson, Emily Sellwood


DEAR, near and true, -- no truer Time himself
Can prove you, tho' he make you evermore
Dearer and nearer, as the rapid of life
Shoots to the fall, -- take this and pray that he
Who wrote it, honoring your sweet faith in him,
May trust himself; and after praise and scorn,
As one who feels the immeasurable world,
Attain the wise indifference of the wise;
And after autumn past -- if left to pass
His autumn into seeming-leafless days --
Draw toward the long frost and longest night,
Wearing his wisdom lightly, like the fruit
Which in our winter woodland looks a flower.




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