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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


TWO LIVES. PART 1: 14 by WILLIAM ELLERY LEONARD

First Line: NEW WARNINGS CAME: BUILDING THE FIRE, I SPIED
Last Line: IN MY OWN DEALINGS WITH MY LOVELY ONE? --

New Warnings came: building the fire, I spied
A crumpled letter with my name, and caught
Some phrases zigzag in the folds, their thought
Leaping into my face: . . . @3"marriage" . . . "have died" . . .
"Avoid those matters and" . . . "we're justified"@1 . . .
So I unfolded (and why not?). From then
My faith was shaken in two righteous men --
Plotting 'gainst me, yet plotting for my bride,
The sister, daughter. I was welcome there
As "the solution of her future" -- means,
Not manhood, was I unto father, son:
But did they reckon how that deed unfair
Would work across the drama's later scenes
In my own dealings with my lovely one? --



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