Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, WORDS, by ROBERT FINCH


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

WORDS, by                    
First Line: There are words that can only be said on paper
Last Line: And the undetectable words used in their stead.
Subject(s): Language; Words; Vocabulary


There are words that can only be said on paper.
It is fortunate they are few. All others shrink
On paper to the thinness of dried ink
And fade at the mind into forgotten vapour.

There are words that can only be said once
And have all been said before that fact is plain.
In a sense no word can ever be said again
And none can be said again in the same sense.

There are words that have to be said or written,
Answers and questions, times to be observed,
But most words die in a cause they have not served
Or bite forever what never should be bitten.

And then there are the words that are left unsaid
And the undetectable words used in their stead.





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