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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE FALL OF A SOUL by JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS

Poet Analysis

First Line: I SAT UNSPHERING PLATO ERE I SLEPT
Last Line: RUINING HE SANK TOWARD UNDISCOVER'D LANDS.
I SAT unsphering Plato ere I slept:
Then through my dream the choir of gods was borne,
Swift as the wind and splendid as the morn,
Fronting the night of stars; behind them swept
Tempestuous darkness o'er a drear descent,
Wherein I saw a crowd of charioteers
Urging their giddy steeds with cries and cheers,
To join the choir that aye before them went:
But one there was who fell, with broken car
And horses swooning down the gulf of gloom;
Heavenward his eyes, though prescient of their doom,
Reflected glory like a falling star,
While with wild hair blown back and listless hands
Ruining he sank toward undiscover'd lands.



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