Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SIR WALTER RALEIGH TO A CAGED LINNET, by EUGENE JACOB LEE-HAMILTON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SIR WALTER RALEIGH TO A CAGED LINNET, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Thou tiny solace of these prison days
Last Line: Not to a captive who can answer nought.
Subject(s): Linnets; Raleigh, Sir Walter (1552-1618)


THOU tiny solace of these prison days,
Too long already have I kept thee here;
With every week thou hast become more dear --
So dear that I will free thee: fly thy ways.
Man, the alternate slave and tyrant, lays
Too soon on others what he hath to bear.
Thy cage is in my cage; but, never fear,
The sun once more shall bathe thee with its rays.
Fly forth, and tell the sunny woods how oft
I think of them, and stretch my limbs in thought
Upon their fragrant mosses green and soft;
And whistle all the whistlings God hath taught
Thy throat, to other songsters high aloft --
Not to a captive who can answer nought.





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