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Thistle-Down

Topics: classic

Beyond a ridge of pine with russet tips     The west lifts to the sun her longing lips,     Her blushes stain with gold and garnet dye     The shore, the river and the wide far sky;     Like floods of wine the waters filter through     The reeds that brush our indolent canoe.     I beach the bow where sands in shadows lie;     You hold my hand a space, then speak good-bye.     Upwinds your pathway through the yellow plumes     Of goldenrod, profuse in August blooms,     And o'er its tossing sprays you toss a kiss;     A moment more, and I see only this -     The idle paddle you so lately held,     The empty bow your pliant wrist propelled,     Some thistles purpling into violet,     Their blossoms with a thousand thorns afret,     And like a cobweb, shadowy and grey,     Far floats their down - far drifts my dream away.

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"Beyond a ridge of pine with russet tips..."

Emily Pauline Johnson's contribution to classic is further solidified by the brilliance found in "Thistle-Down"... ### 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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