Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE FATE OF THE LYRIST, by JANE FRANCESCA WILDE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE FATE OF THE LYRIST, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The soul is ever clinging unto form
Last Line: To list their orphic melody.
Alternate Author Name(s): Speranza; Elgee, Jane Francesca; Wilde, William Robert Wills, Mrs.
Subject(s): Poetry & Poets


THE soul is ever clinging unto form;
Action, not abstract thought, alone can warm
The great heart of Humanity -- in life's fierce storm
Pass they the Lyrist by.

The Dramatist may wear triumphant bays;
And see the wondering people's tranc'd amaze,
The while unrolls great Homer to their gaze,
His gorgeous, many-coloured tapestry.

But lofty Pindar's heaven-directed flight,
Petrarca's song, mystic and sad as night,
Fall dull upon the common ear -- their might
Is to the world a mystery.

Such spirits dwell but with the spiritual --
Their godlike souls disdaining to enthrall;
Within the limits of the actual,
Men pass, unheeding the divinity.

Their name, indeed, is echoed by the crowd;
But from amidst the masses earthward bowed,
Few lift the head, with kindred soul endowed,
To list their Orphic melody.







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