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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ACHIEVEMENT, by HORTENSE KING FLEXNER First Line: Achievement must now be weighed Last Line: Of many bereavements. Subject(s): Heroism; Success; Heroes; Heroines | |||
Achievement must now be weighed In a new scale, For the tasks of heroes Have become the accomplishments Of adolescents. Tomorrow also, those who dare insanely Shall be called By a smiling name. The ski-jumper and aviator Must perform For a heavy-eyed future. But if the dimensions of pain Grow in proportion To the extended perfection of the body, We shall be lost. For who then will remember The journey of Orpheus, Or consider Hell More than an evil hour? In that generation Loss shall not be accompanied by music, Nor the suffering of one Give the sensation Of many bereavements. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE CONFESSION OF ST. JIM-RALPH by DENIS JOHNSON NOTES FOR AN ELEGY by WILLIAM MEREDITH THE EROTICS OF HISTORY by EAVAN BOLAND A SONG FOR HEROES by EDWIN MARKHAM AFTER THE BROKEN ARM by RON PADGETT PRELUDE; FOR GEOFFREY GORER by EDITH SITWELL EXAMINATION OF THE HERO IN A TIME OF WAR by WALLACE STEVENS 800,000 VIBRATIONS TO THE SECOND by HORTENSE KING FLEXNER |
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