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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
IDEALITY, by DAVID HARTLEY COLERIDGE Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: The vale of tempe had in vain been fair Last Line: The mounting soul must heavenward prune her wings. Alternate Author Name(s): Coleridge, Hartley Subject(s): Imagination; Fancy | |||
The vale of Tempe had in vain been fair, Green Ida never deemed the nurse of Jove; Each fabled stream, beneath its covert grove, Had idly murmured to the idle air; The shaggy wolf had kept his horrid lair In Delphi's cell, and old Trophonius' cave, And the wild wailing of the Ionian wave Had never blended with the sweet despair Of Sappho's death-song: if the sight inspired Saw only what the visual organs show, If heaven-born phantasy no more required Than what within the sphere of sense may grow. The beauty to perceive of earthly things, The mounting soul must heavenward prune her wings. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE IMAGINED COPPERHEAD by ANDREW HUDGINS A SICK CHILD by RANDALL JARRELL IMAGINARY TROUBLE by JOHN KENDRICK BANGS EVERYTHING THAT ACTS IS ACTUAL by DENISE LEVERTOV ON THE MEETING OF GARCIA LORCA AND HART CRANE by PHILIP LEVINE ON WORDSWORTH by DAVID HARTLEY COLERIDGE |
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