Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, FOR AN AUTOGRAPH, by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

FOR AN AUTOGRAPH, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Though old the thought and oft exprest
Last Line: And scrawl, as I do here, a name.
Subject(s): Autographs; Life; Religion; Theology


THOUGH old the thought and oft exprest,
'T is his at last who says it best, --
I'll try my fortune with the rest.

Life is a leaf of paper white
Whereon each one of us may write
His word or two, and then comes night.

"Lo, time and space enough," we cry,
"To write an epic!" so we try
Our nibs upon the edge, and die.

Muse not which way the pen to hold,
Luck hates the slow and loves the bold,
Soon come the darkness and the cold.

Greatly begin! though thou have time
But for a line, be that sublime, --
Not failure, but low aim, is crime.

Ah, with what lofty hope we came!
But we forget it, dream of fame,
And scrawl, as I do here, a name.





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