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BURLESQUE SONNET by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

Poet Analysis

First Line: THEE, MACKINTOSH, ARTIFICER OF LIGHT
Last Line: OF LIGHT, AND LIGHT'S PURVEYANCE, HAIL, THE KING.
Subject(s): SEA; OCEAN;

THEE, Mackintosh, artificer of light,
Thee, the lone smoker hails! the student, thee;
Thee, oft upon the ungovernable sea,
The seaman, conscious of approaching night;
Thou, with industrious fingers, hast outright
Mastered that art, of other arts the key,
That bids thick night before the morning flee,
And lingering day retains for mortal sight.

O Promethean workman, thee I hail,
Thee hallowed, thee unparalleled, thee bold
To affront the reign of sleep and darkness old,
Thee William, thee AEneas, thee I sing;
Thee by the glimmering taper clear and pale,
Of light, and light's purveyance, hail, the king.



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