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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
CHORUS FROM A TRAGEDY, by LEONARD BACON (1887-1954) Poet's Biography First Line: The world is no longer good Last Line: Would the olive leaf once more? | |||
The world is no longer good. Men's hearts no more are kind. There is coldness in the mind, Bitterness in the blood. And I am not resigned. When they talk of burning things That touch me to the heart, They trammel music and art, They wither Ariel's wings Or tear his pinions apart, Anatomizing, digesting, Drying the sap that ran Once in the brain of man Riotous and unresting, Guiltless of plot or plan. There is no pulse in the vein. And the staunch muscle has slacked. A blight has devoured the bract. Color dies to a stain. Wisdom dwindles to fact. And I feel as dead as the ash Of an unregarded fire. The elements of desire, Lovely and wild and rash, Separate and retire. We shall not have things as they were, Not as they were before. If I had the heart to restore, Would the chestnut thicken its burr? Would the olive leaf once more? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A BALLADE OF OTHER IDOLS by LEONARD BACON (1887-1954) BALLADE OF MYSELF AND MONSIEUR RABELAIS by LEONARD BACON (1887-1954) NIGHT LAUGHTER by LEONARD BACON (1887-1954) NOVEMBER 4TH, 1937 by LEONARD BACON (1887-1954) ON BEING QUIZZED BY BALIEV by LEONARD BACON (1887-1954) THE BALLADE OF THE GOLDEN HORN by LEONARD BACON (1887-1954) THE REASON by LEONARD BACON (1887-1954) UNKNOWN QUANTITY by LEONARD BACON (1887-1954) INTOXICATION by EMILY DICKINSON |
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