Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, LINES TO ELLEN, by RALPH WALDO EMERSON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

LINES TO ELLEN, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Tell me maiden dost thou use
Last Line: Or made what other purlieus proud?


Tell me maiden dost thou use
Thyself thro nature to diffuse
All the angles of the coast
Were tenanted by thy sweet ghost
Bore thy colours every flower
Thine each leaf & berry bore
All wore thy badges & thy favours
In their scent or in their savours
Every moth with painted wing
Every bird in caroling
The woodboughs with thy manners waved
The rocks uphold thy name engraved
The sod throbbed friendly to my feet
And the sweet air with thee was sweet
The saffron cloud that floated warm
Studied thy motion, took thy form,
And in his airy road benign
Recalled thy skill in bold design
Or seemed to use his privilege
To gaze over the horizon's edge
To search where now thy beauty glowed
Or made what other purlieus proud?





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