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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE SEA-CLIFFS OF KILKEE by AUBREY DE VERE

First Line: AWFULLY BEAUTIFUL ART THOU, O SEA!
Last Line: THE PRECIPICE, THE OCEAN, AND THE SKY.
Subject(s): KILKEE, IRELAND;

AWFULLY beautiful art thou, O sea!
Viewed from the vantage of these giant rocks
That vast in air lift their primeval blocks,
Screening the sandy cove of lone Kilkee.
Cautious, with outstretched arm and bended knee,
I scan the dread abyss, till the depth mocks
My straining eyeballs, and the eternal shocks
Of billows rolling from infinity
Disturb my brain. Hark! the shrill sea-bird's scream!
Cloud-like they sweep the long wave's sapphire gleam,
Ere the poised osprey stoop in wrath from high.
Here man, alone, is naught; Nature supreme,
Where all is simply great that meets the eye, --
The precipice, the ocean, and the sky.



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