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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


POETS AND CRITICS by ALFRED TENNYSON

Poet Analysis

First Line: THIS THING, THAT THING IS THE RAGE
Last Line: AND THE CRITIC'S RARER STILL.
Subject(s): CRITICISM & CRITICS;

THIS thing, that thing is the rage,
Helter-skelter runs the age;
Minds on this round earth of ours
Vary like the leaves and flowers,
Fashion'd after certain laws;
Sing thou low or loud or sweet,
All at all points thou canst not meet,
Some will pass and some will pause.

What is true at last will tell:
Few at first will place thee well;
Some too low would have thee shine,
Some too high -- no fault of thine --
Hold thine own, and work thy will!
Year will graze the heel of year,
But seldom comes the poet here,
And the Critic's rarer still.





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