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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


GUIDO INVITES YOU THUS by EZRA POUND

Poem Explanation Poet Analysis

First Line: LAPPO I LEAVE BEHIND AND DANTE TOO
Last Line: "LO, THOU HAST VOYAGED NOT! THE SHIP IS MINE."

"Lappo I leave behind and Dante too,
Lo, I would sail the seas with thee alone!
Talk me no love talk, no bought-cheap fiddl'ry,
Mine is the ship and thine the merchandise,
All the blind earth knows not th'emprise
Whereto thou calledst and whereto I call.

Lo, I have seen thee bound about with dreams,
Lo, I have known thy heart and its desire;
Life, all of it, my sea, and all men's streams
Are fused in it as flames of an altar fire!
Lo, thou hast voyaged not! The ship is mine."



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