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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


PAN IMMORTAL; SONNET by JOHN GODFREY SAXE

First Line: WHO WEEPS THE DEATH OF PAN? PAN IS NOT DEAD
Last Line: OR HEARS HIS LAUGH FAR ECHOING DOWN THE GLEN!
Subject(s): MYTHOLOGY - CLASSICAL; PAN (MYTHOLOGY);

WHO weeps the death of Pan? Pan is not dead,
But loves the shepherds still; still leads the fauns
In merry dances o'er the grassy lawns,
To his own pipes; as erst in Greece he led
The sylvan games, what time the god pursued
The beauteous Dryope. The Naiads still
Haunt the green marge of every mountain rill;
The Dryads sport in every leafy wood;
Pan cannot die till Nature's self decease!
Full oft the reverent worshiper descries
His ruddy face and mischief-glancing eyes
Beneath the branches of old forest-trees
That tower remote from steps of worldly men,
Or hears his laugh far echoing down the glen!



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