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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
VETERAN SIRENS, by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: The ghost of ninon would be sorry now Last Line: So far from ninon and so near the grave. Subject(s): Aging; Courtesans; Lenclos, Anne De (1620-1705); Ninon De Lenclos | |||
THE ghost of Ninon would be sorry now To laugh at them, were she to see them here, So brave and so alert for learning how To fence with reason for another year. Age offers a far comelier diadem Than theirs; but anguish has no eye for grace, When time's malicious mercy cautions them To think a while of number and of space. The burning hope, the worn expectancy, The martyred humor, and the maimed allure, Cry out for time to end his levity, And age to soften its investiture; But they, though others fade and are still fair, Defy their fairness and are unsubdued; Although they suffer, they may not forswear The patient ardor of the unpursued. Poor flesh, to fight the calendar so long; Poor vanity, so quaint and yet so brave; Poor folly, so deceived and yet so strong, So far from Ninon and so near the grave. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AN EVANGELIST'S WIFE by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON AN ISLAND (SAINT HELENA, 1821) by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON ANOTHER DARK LADY by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON BALLADE OF DEAD FRIENDS by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON CAPUT MORTUUM by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON CHARLES CARVILLE'S EYES by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON CORTEGE by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON DEMOS by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON DOCTOR OF BILLIARDS by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON ERASMUS by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON |
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