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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ANGEL FACES: 1; SONNET by DINAH MARIA MULOCK CRAIK

First Line: I SHALL NOT PAINT THEM. GOD THEM SEES, AND I
Last Line: IS REAPED, METHINKS: AT MY LITTLE FIELD LIES BARE.

"And with the dawn those angel faces smile
That I have loved long since, and lost awhile."


I SHALL not paint them. God them sees, and I:
No other can, nor need. They have no form,
I may not close with human kisses warm
Their eyes which shine afar or from on high,
But never will shine nearer till I die.
How long, how long! See, I am growing old;
I have quite ceased to note in my hair's fold
The silver threads that there in ambush lie;
Some angel faces bent from heaven would pine
To trace the sharp lines graven upon mine;
What matter? in the wrinkles ploughed by care
Let age tread after, sowing immortal seeds;
All this life's harvest yielded, wheat or weeds,
Is reaped, methinks: at my little field lies bare.



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