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Extreme Unction

Topics: classic

Upon the eyes, the lips, the feet,     On all the passages of sense,     The atoning oil is spread with sweet     Renewal of lost innocence.     The feet, that lately ran so fast     To meet desire, are soothly sealed;     The eyes, that were so often cast     On vanity, are touched and healed.     From troublous sights and sounds set free;     In such a twilight hour of breath,     Shall one retrace his life, or see,     Through shadows, the true face of death?     Vials of mercy! Sacring oils!     I know not where nor when I come,     Nor through what wanderings and toils,     To crave of you Viaticum.     Yet, when the walls of flesh grow weak,     In such an hour, it well may be,     Through mist and darkness, light will break,     And each anointed sense will see.

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"Upon the eyes, the lips, the feet,..."

This evocative piece by Ernest Christopher Dowson, titled "Extreme Unction", represents a masterful exploration of classic. The lines capture a profound emotional resonance... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

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"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

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