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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


TWO LIVES. PART 1: 3 by WILLIAM ELLERY LEONARD

First Line: THAT ATTIC ROOM BECAME MY DESTINY
Last Line: LAGS EVER IN THE REAR OF SUCH AS THEY.

That attic room became my destiny:
In each man's life there's some excelling spot,
Indoors or out, that may not be forgot, --
Some hall whose music set his spirit free,
Some stream unbridged which lost him victory,
Some hut, some hill, determining his lot,
Dividing still what-is from what-is-not,
In life of each man -- whether you or me . . .
Of which hereafter . . . But you shall not think,
You few who read my story shall not say,
"He would make big the things of everyday
By out-worn rhetoric." For my hair is gray
Through manhood's commonplaces, and all ink
Lags ever in the rear of such as they.



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