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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


TWO LIVES. PART 2: 18 by WILLIAM ELLERY LEONARD

First Line: WHAT MEANWHILE OF MY WORK FOR WORLD OF MEN?
Last Line: AND BROODED (UNBEKNOWN) . . . TO SET ME FREE.

What meanwhile of my work for world of men?
What of the Grecian Isles and Marathon,
And phalanx that went forth with Philip's son
To slay dusk hordes beyond the Asian fen? --
What of my solemn midnights with the pen,
The critic's insight and the poet's song? --
Was I at last to be thus thwarted, then, --
I who had struggled for those things so long? . . .
To know my story to the lowest pit,
Circle by circle down to deepest Hell,
Needs must you know Ambition has in it
Meanings that woman's love alone can spell:
Though I said little, she sensed my bondage, she, . . .
And brooded (unbeknown) . . . to set me free.



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