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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ECCLESIASTICAL SONNETS: PART 2: 24. SAINTS by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

Poet Analysis

First Line: YE, TOO, MUST FLY BEFORE A CHASING HAND
Last Line: GALES SWEET AS THOSE THAT OVER EDEN BLEW!
Subject(s): SAINTS;

YE, too, must fly before a chasing hand,
Angels and Saints, in every hamlet mourned!
Ah! if the old idolatry be spurned,
Let not your radiant Shapes desert the Land:
Her adoration was not your demand,
The fond heart proffered it -- the servile heart;
And therefore are ye summoned to depart,
Michael, and thou, St. George, whose flaming brand
The Dragon quelled; and valiant Margaret
Whose rival sword a like Opponent slew:
And rapt Cecilia seraph-haunted Queen
Of harmony; and weeping Magdalene,
Who in the penitential desert met
Gales sweet as those that over Eden blew!



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