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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


LOVE'S CHAMPION by THOMAS HOOD

Poet Analysis

First Line: BY EV'RY SWEET TRADITION OF TRUE HEARTS
Last Line: AS IF LOVE'S GREAT EXAMPLES STILL WERE LACK'D.
Subject(s): LOVE;

BY ev'ry sweet tradition of true hearts,
Graven by Time, in love with his own lore;
By all old martyrdoms and antique smarts,
Wherein Love died to be alive the more;
Yea, by the sad impression on the shore,
Left by the drown'd Leander, to endear
That coast for ever, where the billow's roar
Moaneth for pity in the Poet's ear;
By Hero's faith, and the foreboding tear
That quench'd her brand's last twinkle in its fall;
By Sappho's leap, and the low rustling fear
That sigh'd around her flight; I swear by all,
The world shall find such pattern in my act,
As if Love's great examples still were lack'd.



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