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Fancy.

Topics: classic

O fancy, if thou flyest, come back anon,         Thy fluttering wings are soft as love's first word,         And fragrant as the feathers of that bird,     Which feeds upon the budded cinnamon.     I ask thee not to work, or sigh - play on,         From nought that was not, was, or is, deterred;         The flax that Old Fate spun thy flights have stirred,     And waved memorial grass of Marathon.     Play, but be gentle, not as on that day         I saw thee running down the rims of doom     With stars thou hadst been stealing - while they lay         Smothered in light and blue - clasped to thy breast;     Bring rather to me in the firelit room         A netted halcyon bird to sing of rest.

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"O fancy, if thou flyest, come back anon,..."

Jean Ingelow's contribution to classic is further solidified by the brilliance found in "Fancy."... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

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