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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE FAVORITE, by DOROTHA M. SHOEMAKER
First Line: An old book soiled and worn from handling
Last Line: An immortality greater than a memory?
Subject(s): Authors And Authorship; Books; Reading
First Line: An old book soiled and worn from handling
Last Line: An immortality greater than a memory?
Subject(s): Authors And Authorship; Books; Reading
An old book soiled and worn from handling,
With margins scrawled and phrases under-scored,
A book that saw the smiles and felt the tears
Of one long passed into oblivion.
I came upon it yesterday, quite by chance,
Concealed behind volumes of Villon and Yeats.
It was yellowed much with age, gray with dust,
But it bore a laughing script on every page.
I wept over it, fondled it and put it there
High on that shelf—in the most honored place—
Beside my Shelley, Wilde and Baudelaire,
My Pater, Paul Verlaine and Moliere.
A book that has a soul! Can one forget
The hours of deep companionship so spent
Within its pages? Or can one deny
An immortality greater than a memory?
Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!
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TWO SONNETS: 1 by DAVID LEHMAN
THE ILLUSTRATION?ÇÖA FOOTNOTE by DENISE LEVERTOV
FALLING ASLEEP OVER THE AENEID by ROBERT LOWELL
POETRY MACHINES by CATE MARVIN
LENDING LIBRARY by PHYLLIS MCGINLEY
APPELLATE JURISDICTION by MARIANNE MOORE
ON A LADY WHO FANCIED HERSELF A BEAUTY by CHARLES SACKVILLE (1637-1706)