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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


IMMORTALITY by GEORGE WILLIAM RUSSELL

Poem Explanation

First Line: WE MUST PASS LIKE SMOKE OR LIVE WITHIN THE SPIRIT'S FIRE
Last Line: BY UNNUMBERED WAYS OF DREAM TO DEATH.
Subject(s): IMMORTALITY;

WE must pass like smoke or live within the spirit's fire;
For we can no more than smoke unto the flame return:
If our thought has changed to dream, our will unto desire,
As smoke we vanish though the fire may burn.

Lights of infinite pity star the grey dusk of our days:
Surely here is soul: with it we have eternal breath:
In the fire of love we live, or pass by many ways,
By unnumbered ways of dream to death.



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