Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, CORPUS, CAMBRIDGE, by JOHN COWPER POWYS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

CORPUS, CAMBRIDGE, by             Poem Explanation         Poet's Biography
First Line: Nothing can I recall
Last Line: Walked and blasphemed on corpus sod.
Subject(s): Cambridge University; God; Mass; Singing & Singers; Tears


Nothing can I recall,
O Alma Mater, of thee
Save a crumbling ivied wall
And a world of obliquity.

Nothing but shades discreet,
Politic, glib of tongue,
Pirouetting on tip-toe feet
To where the Mass is sung: --

The Mass, or whatever most
In Evangelic places
Prefers the Holy Ghost
To flamboyant grimaces: --

Nothing: and yet I lie!
Across my memory flame,
Like blood-drops on ivory,
The syllables of a name.

Like a red wound in the breast
Of a god, like a maiden's cry
For her ravished virginity,
Like a torch that burneth a city,

Comes to me over the years,
A wraith of splendour and tears.
Christopher Marlowe -- shrive him, God! --
Walked and blasphemed on Corpus sod.





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