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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


PERFECT GRIEF by ARTHUR WILLIAM SYMONS

Poet Analysis

First Line: THE WANDERING, WISE, OUTCAST SONS
Last Line: THE HAUGHTY SILENCE OF MY LOVE.
Subject(s): GRIEF; SORROW; SADNESS;

The wandering, wise, outcast sons
Of Pharaoh, the dark roofless ones,
Taught me this wisdom: If Death come,
And take thy dear one, be thou dumb,
Nor gratify with suppliant breath
The attentive insolence of Death.
Suffer thy dear one to depart
In silence; silent in thy heart,
From this forth, be thy dear one's name.
So I, that would not put to shame
So dear a memory dead, repeat
No more the sweet name once too sweet,
Nor, from that buried name, remove
The haughty silence of my love.



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