Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, IMPRESSION: 1 ('WHEN IT WAS DARK'), by AUSTIN PHILIPS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

IMPRESSION: 1 ('WHEN IT WAS DARK'), by                    
First Line: Of stature short. Napoleon-like in brow
Last Line: Mirrored, in equal measure, the unwise and kind.
Subject(s): Napoleon I (1769-1821)


OF stature short. Napoleon-like in brow.
Pompous of presence. Passing bright of eye.
Immense of shoulder. And in stomach, too,
Gargantuan. Of fools contemptuous,
Yet swift with warm and generous sympathy
For wit in friends. Wealthy, to over-plus,
Of brain and fierce creative energy.
Cynic and sinner. Strangely credulous.
Unique in unreliability.
Body and soul unceasingly at war.
Gluttonous, gross ... with aims oracular.
Pirate of Plots, and utterer of ordure.
His passions twin ... alcohol, literature.
He wrote a book which made the critics retch;
But, as he frankly forecast, "bound to fetch
The bloody Bishops." And one came to preach—
Alas!—about it as a 'masterpiece' ...
Such, poor Guy Thorne. His most amazing mind
Mirrored, in equal measure, the unwise and kind.





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