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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ALICE WADE VERSUS SMALL-POX by CHARLES TENNYSON TURNER

First Line: THY GOLDEN HAIR IS LEFT - ITS SILKY MESH
Last Line: THE FORTUNES OR THE LOVES OF ALICE WADE!
Subject(s): SMALL POX;

Thy golden hair is left - its silky mesh
The spoiler shall not mar, whater'er he takes;
Nor that still-brilliant eye, that sleeps and wakes
Among the flowing sores: but thy fair flesh,
All-confluent now, and molten by disease,
Must keep the stamp which this sick fortnight gave
Even till that latest fusion in the grave
Runs off our ingrained evils; but for these
Sweet relics of thyself, and what thou wert
A brief moon since, I should be half afraid
That Love might shrink, and merry Hymen flirt
His robe at thy lost hopes, my little maid!
Thou smilest! Ah! I see no power can hurt
The fortunes or the loves of Alice Wade!



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