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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


INNOGEN by SILAS WEIR MITCHELL

First Line: IMMORTAL SHADOW, FAINT AND EVER FAIR
Last Line: NOR WHAT IS SADDER, LIFE, NOR ANY HUMAN WOE.
Subject(s): DRAMATISTS; PLAYS & PLAYWRIGHTS; POETRY & POETS; SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM (1564-1616); SILENCE;

IMMORTAL shadow, faint and ever fair,
Dear for unspoken words that might have been,
Compelled to silent sorrow none may share,
A ghost of Shakespeare's world, unheard, unseen,
How many more like thee have voiceless stood
Uncalled upon the threshold of his mind,
The speechless children of a mighty brood
Who were and are not! Never shall they find
The happier comrades unto whom he gave
Thought, speech, and action—they who shall not know
The end of our realities, the grave,
Nor what is sadder, life, nor any human woe.



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