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The Veil

Topics: classic

I think and think: yet still I fail -     Why must this lady wear a veil?     Why thus elect to mask her face     Beneath that dainty web of lace?     The tip of a small nose I see,     And two red lips, set curiously     Like twin-born berries on one stem,     And yet, she has netted even them.     Her eyes, 'tis plain, survey with ease     Whate'er to glance upon they please.     Yet, whether hazel, gray, or blue,     Or that even lovelier lilac hue,     I cannot guess: why - why deny     Such beauty to the passer-by?     Out of a bush a nightingale     May expound his song; from 'neath that veil     A happy mouth no doubt can make     English sound sweeter for its sake.     But then, why muffle in like this     What every blossomy wind would kiss?     Why in that little night disguise     A daybreak face, those starry eyes?

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"I think and think: yet still I fail -..."

Walter De La Mare's contribution to classic is further solidified by the brilliance found in "The Veil"... ### 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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"Have you been catching of fish, Tom Noddy?        ..."

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