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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THEN AND NOW by JEAN JACQUES ANTOINE AMPERE

First Line: THERE IS A WINDOW, YEARS LONG PAST I KNEW
Last Line: ALTHOUGH, THAT NONE WILL COME, FULL WELL I WOT.
THERE is a window, years long past I knew,
Which oft and oft my gaze, though distant, sought;
Silent I waited till one came in view
Who opened it, and dreamed, as lost in thought.

One day 'twas closed, and no one from that hour
Has thrown it open when the dawning wakes.
How sad it looks shut 'gainst the sun's bright power,
And when with the night wind the shutter shakes!

The workman, who each morning winds his way
To where he plies his customed industry,
Wonders to see it fastened day by day,
But cries, 'Why care!' and whistling, hurries by.

Now, as of yore, I pass that window near,
And slack my footsteps as I reach the spot;
Silent I wait for some one to appear,
Although, that none will come, full well I wot.



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