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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


FEAR by DAVID HARTLEY COLERIDGE

Poet Analysis

First Line: DIM CHILD OF DARKNESS AND FAINT-ECHOING SPACE
Last Line: BUT AS MYSELF, MY SINFUL SELF, I OWN THEE.
Subject(s): FEAR;

DIM child of darkness and faint-echoing space,
That still art just behind, and never here,
Death's herald shadow, unimagined Fear;
Thou antic, that dost multiply a face,
Which hath no self, but finds in every place
A body, features, voice, and circumstance,
Yet art most potent in the wide expanse
Of unbelief -- may I beseech thy grace?
Thou art a spirit of no certain clan,
For thou wilt fight for either God or devil.
Man is thy slave, and yet the lord is man;
The human heart creates thee good or evil:
As goblin, ghost, or fiend I ne'er have known thee,
But as myself, my sinful self, I own thee.



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