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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SONG by JOANNA BAILLIE

Poet Analysis

First Line: WHAT VOICE IS THIS, THOU EVENING GALE!
Last Line: THE DEAD SHALL SEEM TO LIVE AGAIN.
Subject(s): VOICES; LOVE;

What voice is this, thou evening gale!
That mingles with thy rising wail;
And as it passes sadly seems
The faint return of youthful dreams?

Though now its strain is wild and drear,
Blythe was it once, as skylark's cheer --
Sweet as the night-bird's sweetest song --
Dear as the lisp of infant's tongue.

It was the voice at whose sweet flow
The heart did beat and cheek did glow,
And lip did smile, and eye did weep,
And motion'd love the measure keep.

Oft be thy sound, soft gale of even,
Thus to my wistful fancy given;
And as I list the swelling strain,
The dead shall seem to live again.



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