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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


VINCENT VAN GOGH by HARRIET R. BEAN

First Line: THESE HUMBLE FOLK, WHICH FIRST HIS GROPING HAND
Last Line: GRAVEWARD -- BEQUEATH SUCH BEAUTY TO THE WORLD?
Subject(s): VAN GOGH, VINCENT (1853-1890);

These humble folk, which first his groping hand
Portrayed, down-trodden, sad, have power to stir
My soul as his, to make me understand
The passion which gripped their young interpreter.
These other canvasses almost outblaze
Nature's own sunshine; vivid blues of sky
And water, grasses green as springtime daze
My eyes with color and electrify
My senses. There a twisted cypress tree
Against a seething sky on a storm-torn field
Reflects the bitter inner agony
Of stark defeat and loneliness unrepealed.
How could he -- thwarted, loveless, early hurled
Graveward -- bequeath such beauty to the world?



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