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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


AN ITALIAN SONNET-SEQUENCE: 9 by PERCY STICKNEY GRANT

First Line: THE MONSTROUS SEA COULD WELL ENGULF THE LAND
Last Line: WHY GO WE SEPARATE THROUGH THE SO SHORT DAY?
Subject(s): LOVE;

The monstrous sea could well engulf the land,
Mere islands in its flood, the continents lie.
Forever with a wild barbaric cry,
It beats against the barriers of the strand,
In night's dark halls, lit up from Hesperus' brand.
A million more bright lamps could swing on high.
O'er half the earth the dust of deserts fly,
And bury blooming flowers beneath their sand.
Even so from birth until our last long breath,
Absence assails our beating hearts' frail shore,
And laughs to see love's moments wash away.
Since life and love are battled so by death,
By voids, deserts and seas in conflict sore,
Why go we separate through the so short day?



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