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At Queensferry - To W. G. S.

By William Ernest Henley

Topics: classic

The blackbird sang, the skies were clear and clean     We bowled along a road that curved a spine     Superbly sinuous and serpentine     Thro' silent symphonies of summer green.     Sudden the Forth came on us - sad of mien,     No cloud to colour it, no breeze to line:     A sheet of dark, dull glass, without a sign     Of life or death, two spits of sand between.     Water and sky merged blank in mist together,     The Fort loomed spectral, and the Guardship's spars     Traced vague, black shadows on the shimmery glaze:     We felt the dim, strange years, the grey, strange weather,     The still, strange land, unvexed of sun or stars,     Where Lancelot rides clanking thro' the haze.

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"The blackbird sang, the skies were clear and clean..."

"At Queensferry - To W. G. S." is a quintessential example of William Ernest Henley'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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Author:William Ernest Henley

"The blackbird sang, the skies were clear and clean..." by William Ernest Henley

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William Ernest Henley

About William Ernest Henley

William Ernest Henley (1849–1903) was an English poet, critic, and editor best known for his poem "Invictus" ("I am the master of my fate / I am the captain of my soul"). Written while recovering from tuberculosis of the bone, it has become one of the most quoted poems of courage and resilience.

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"What have I done for you,     England, my England?..."

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