Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, KNOW THYSELF, by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

KNOW THYSELF, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Know thyself - and is this the prime
Last Line: Ignore thyself, and strive to know thy god!
Variant Title(s): True Self-knowledge
Subject(s): Self; Worship


And from heaven descends know thyself. -- Juvenal

Know thyself -- and is this the prime
And heaven-sprung adage of the olden time! --
Say, canst thou make thyself? -- Learn first that trade; --
Haply thou mayst know what thyself has made.
What hast thou, Man, that thou dar'st call thine own? --
What is there in thee, Man, that can be known? --
Dark fluxion, all unfixable by thought,
A phantom dim of past and future wrought,
Vain sister of the worm, -- life, death, soul, clod --
Ignore thyself, and strive to know thy God!




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