Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE LASTING FAME, by WALT MASON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE LASTING FAME, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I'd like to leave behind me some work that
Last Line: Live on forever, or die in half a day.
Subject(s): Fame; Reputation


I'D like to leave behind me some work that will endure, but briny teardrops
blind me, the prospect is so poor! Man hates to think of sleeping through ages
four or five, with nothing brilliant keeping his memory alive. But there is no
foretelling whose fame for aye will stand, or who has built his dwelling upon
the shifting sand. The lions we're adoring, the great men of today, whose bright

renown goes soaring from Juneau to Cathay, whose voices give direction to all
our projects here, may pass from recollection when they've been dead a year.
Perchance some humble plodder, who seems to cut no grass, or other kinds of
fodder, will, when the ages pass, in people's hearts be living, his fame secure

and strong, immortalized for giving the world some simple song. No man can say,

"It's certain, as taxes, and as sure, that when Death drops the curtain, my fame

will still endure." To make our best endeavor, that is the only way; let fame
live on forever, or die in half a day.





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