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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SHAKESPEARE TO HIS MIRROR by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON

First Line: WITHIN THY CRYSTAL DEPTHS I SEE
Last Line: SINCE THOU DOST BEAR FALSE TALES OF ME!
Subject(s): DRAMATISTS; MIRRORS; PLAYS & PLAYWRIGHTS ; POETRY & POETS; SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM (1564-1616); SOUL; DRAMATISTS;

WITHIN thy crystal depths I see
A figure semblable of me,
But no more me than I am one
With the brute rock I rest upon;
For how may brow or eye reveal
The infinites wherewith I deal?

Nay, I will break thee, mirror mine!
The unseen inward is divine,
The outward body but a bowl
That covers in the mounting soul.

If any one would truly know
What manner of man I come and go,
Not flesh alone, but blood and breath,
Lo, Lear, Lord Hamlet and Macbeth!

Poor mummer, I must shatter thee,
Since thou dost bear false tales of me!



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