Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, LECONTE DE LISLE; JULY 17, 1894, by EDMUND WILLIAM GOSSE



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LECONTE DE LISLE; JULY 17, 1894, by             Poem Explanation         Poet's Biography
First Line: His verse was carved in ivory forms, undying
Last Line: His bronze and marble leap to life and song.
Subject(s): Leconte De Lisle (1819-1894)


HIS verse was carved in ivory forms, undying
As those that deck the marble Phidian frieze.
Over his plaintive hearse to-night is flying
A phantom genius from the Cyclades.

It hovers till our idle rites be over;
And then will bear him in its arms away
To islands cinctured by the sun, their lover,
And spicy woodlands thrilled with fiery day.

There his dark hours of toil shall drop, forgotten;
There all he loved, simple and calm and grand --
All the white creatures by his Muse begotten --
Shall cluster round him in a stately band.

Then shall he smile, appeased by sovereign beauty,
Contented that he strove and waited long,
Since in those worlds where loveliness is duty
His bronze and marble leap to life and song.





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