Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SONNET, by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

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First Line: Enamored architect of airy rhyme
Last Line: They fail, and they alone, who have not striven.
Subject(s): Poetry & Poets


ENAMOURED architect of airy rhyme,
Build as thou wilt; heed not what each man says:
Good souls, but innocent of dreamers' ways,
Will come, and marvel why thou wastest time;
Others, beholding how thy turrets climb
'Twixt theirs and heaven, will hate thee all thy days;
But most beware of those who come to praise.
O Wondersmith, O worker in sublime
And heaven-sent dreams, let art be all in all;
Build as thou wilt, unspoiled by praise or blame,
Build as thou wilt, and as thy light is given:
Then, if at last the airy structure fall,
Dissolve, and vanish -- take thyself no shame.
They fail, and they alone, who have not striven.





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