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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THREE FRIENDS OF MINE: 1; SONNET by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

Poet Analysis

First Line: WHEN I REMEMBER THEM, THOSE FRIENDS OF MINE
Last Line: OF THEIR DEAR PRESENCE, AND, REMEMBERING, SMILE.

When I remember them, those friends of mine,
Who are no longer here, the noble three,
Who half my life were more than friends to me,
And whose discourse was like a generous wine,
I most of all remember the divine
Something, that shone in them, and made us see
The archetypal man, and what might be
The amplitude of Nature's first design.
In vain I stretch my hands to clasp their hands;
I cannot find them. Nothing now is left
But a majestic memory. They meanwhile
Wander together in Elysian lands,
Perchance remembering me, who am bereft
Of their dear presence, and, remembering, smile.



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