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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ELEGY ON A VIRTUOUS DOLL, by ARTHUR GUITERMAN Poet's Biography
First Line: Hushed be all sounds profane! Let great and small
Last Line: She is a fairy now!
Subject(s): Children; Childhood
First Line: Hushed be all sounds profane! Let great and small
Last Line: She is a fairy now!
Subject(s): Children; Childhood
Hushed be all sounds profane! Let great and small
In silence grace our solemn funeral
Where gentle wooden beasts of every kind
From Noah's Ark in sad procession wind.
Let Biff the Cat attend in somber veil,
And Bim, the Pup, with crepe about his tail,
While they that knew her best her worth declare:
Oh, velvet Elephant! Oh, Teddy Bear!
Lament Ginerva Jane, so pure, so good,
That pearl of Dollyhood!
How fair she was! Her cheeks were roses rare,
Her eyes were violets, red gold her hair.
How true she was! Though human passion errs,
What constancy in comradeship was hers!
Yet, Mistress of her Soul, no passing joys
Nor griefs untold could shake her equipoise.
Though pierced with poignant pins that searched her core,
Though sat upon, though dragged along the floor,
Though vigorously spanked -- enduring child,
How amiably she smiled!
Mourn, mourn in all the panoply of woe!
Yet shall we mourn her selfishly who know
The happy fate of dolls as good as she
That now on rainbow pinions, light and free,
Disport in dewy glade or mossy dell
With Cobweb, Mustard Seed and Ariel?
No, let us think of dear Ginerva Jane
Reborn to dance in blithe Titania's train;
For, wand in hand and silver star on brow,
She is a Fairy now!
Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!
Other Poems of Interest...
THE THREE CHILDREN by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN
CHILDREN SELECTING BOOKS IN A LIBRARY by RANDALL JARRELL
COME TO THE STONE ... by RANDALL JARRELL
THE LOST WORLD by RANDALL JARRELL
A SICK CHILD by RANDALL JARRELL
CONTINENT'S END by ROBINSON JEFFERS
ON THE DEATH OF FRIENDS IN CHILDHOOD by DONALD JUSTICE
THE POET AT SEVEN by DONALD JUSTICE