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The Loons.

Topics: classic

Once ye were happy, once by many a shore,     Wherever Glooscap's gentle feet might stray,     Lulled by his presence like a dream, ye lay     Floating at rest; but that was long of yore.     He was too good for earthly men; he bore     Their bitter deeds for many a patient day,     And then at last he took his unseen way.     He was your friend, and ye might rest no more:     And now, though many hundred altering years     Have passed, among the desolate northern meres     Still must ye search and wander querulously,     Crying for Glooscap, still bemoan the light     With wierd entreaties, and in agony     With awful laughter pierce the lonely night.

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"Once ye were happy, once by many a shore,..."

"The Loons." is a quintessential example of Archibald Lampman's signature style... ### 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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"Long hours ago, while yet the morn was blithe,    ..."

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