Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, CAVE OF STAFFA (2), by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH


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CAVE OF STAFFA (2), by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Ye shadowy beings, that have rights and claims
Last Line: Yon light shapes forth a bard, that shade a chief.
Subject(s): Caves; Staffa (island), Scotland; Caverns


YE shadowy Beings, that have rights and claims
In every cell of Fingal's mystic Grot,
Where are ye? Driven or venturing to the spot,
Our fathers glimpses caught of your thin Frames,
And, by your mien and bearing knew your names;
And they could hear 'his' ghostly song who trod
Earth, till the flesh lay on him like a load,
While he struck his desolate harp without hopes or aims.
Vanished ye are, but subject to recall;
Why keep 'we' else the instincts whose dread law
Ruled here of yore, till what men felt they saw,
Not by black arts but magic natural!
If eyes be still sworn vassals of belief,
Yon light shapes forth a Bard, that shade a Chief.





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