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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE GRAVE OF SHELLEY, by OSCAR WILDE Recitation Poet's Biography First Line: Like burnt-out torches by a sick man's bed Last Line: Against the rocks of some wave-shattered steep. Alternate Author Name(s): Finga, O'flahertie Wills Subject(s): Graves; Italy; Poetry & Poets; Shelley, Percy Bysshe (1792-1822); Travel; Tombs; Tombstones; Italians; Journeys; Trips | |||
LIKE burnt-out torches by a sick man's bed Gaunt cypress-trees stand round the sun-bleached stone; Here doth the little night-owl make her throne, And the slight lizard show his jewelled head. And, where the chaliced poppies flame to red, In the still chamber of yon pyramid Surely some Old-World Sphinx lurks darkly hid, Grim warder of this pleasaunce of the dead. Ah! sweet indeed to rest within the womb Of Earth, great mother of eternal sleep, But sweeter far for thee a restless tomb In the blue cavern of an echoing deep, Or where the tall ships founder in the gloom Against the rocks of some wave-shattered steep. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...RICHARD, WHAT'S THAT NOISE? by RICHARD HOWARD LOOKING FOR THE GULF MOTEL by RICHARD BLANCO RIVERS INTO SEAS by LYNDA HULL DESTINATIONS by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN THE ONE WHO WAS DIFFERENT by RANDALL JARRELL THE CONFESSION OF ST. JIM-RALPH by DENIS JOHNSON |
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