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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


JOSEPH SEVERN by MARTHA HALE SHACKFORD

First Line: SEVERN, THY 'NAME IS WRIT' WITH THAT OF KEATS
Last Line: A GOLDEN WORLD SEEMS EVER PRESENT THERE.
Subject(s): SEVERN, JOSEPH (1793-1879); WELLESLEY COLLEGE;

@3The Piazza di Spagna
November 1820 -- February 1821@1

SEVERN, thy "name is writ" with that of Keats;
Can fate do more? To thee the years have brought
Memorial gratitude for service wrought
In tireless ways for him whose fever heats
Have ceased. In those dim rooms the pilgrim meets
A memory of all that beauty taught,
Where, visited by laurel-crowned thought,
The soul of friendship keeps its still retreats.
Dark were those days, -- yet careworn, sorrowing
Thy steadfast love its ministry fulfills
Past death and time, as, in the Spanish Square
Almond, narcissus, roses, daffodils
Give fragrance to the clear thin air of Spring;
A golden world seems ever present there.



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