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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE PATH by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE

Poet Analysis

First Line: IS IT AN ABBEY THAT I SEE
Last Line: NO LONGER STRAY!'

Is it an abbey that I see
Hard-by that tapering poplar-tree,
Whereat that path hath end?
'Tis wondrous still
That empty hill,
Yet calls me, friend.

Smooth is the turf, serene the sky,
The timeworn, crumbling roof awry;
Within that turret slim
Hangs there a bell
Whose faint notes knell?
Do colours dim

Burn in that angled window there,
Grass-green, and crimson, azure rare?
Would, from that narrow door,
One, looking in,
See, gemlike, shine
On walls and floor

Candles whose aureole flames must seem --
So still they burn -- to burn in dream?
And do they cry, and say,
'See, stranger; come!
Here is thy home;
No longer stray!'



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