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A Minor Poet

Topics: classic

I am a shell. From me you shall not hear     The splendid tramplings of insistent drums,     The orbed gold of the viol's voice that comes,     Heavy with radiance, languorous and clear.     Yet, if you hold me close against the ear,     A dim, far whisper rises clamorously,     The thunderous beat and passion of the sea,     The slow surge of the tides that drown the mere.     Others with subtle hands may pluck the strings,     Making even Love in music audible,     And earth one glory. I am but a shell     That moves, not of itself, and moving sings;     Leaving a fragrance, faint as wine new-shed,     A tremulous murmur from great days long dead.

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"I am a shell. From me you shall not hear..."

"A Minor Poet" is a quintessential example of Stephen Vincent Benet'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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