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1862–1937

II

Edith Wharton

Lagooned in gold, Seem not those jetty promontories rather The outposts of some ancient land forlorn, Uncomforted of morn,

Where old oblivions gather, The melancholy unconsoling fold Of all things that go utterly to death And mix no more, no more

With life's perpetually awakening breath? Shall Time not ferry me to such a shore, Over such sailless seas, To walk with hope's slain importunities

In miserable marriage? Nay, shall not All things be there forgot, Save the sea's golden barrier and the black Close-crouching promontories?

Dead to all shames, forgotten of all glories, Shall I not wander there, a shadow's shade, A spectre self-destroyed, So purged of all remembrance and sucked back

Into the primal void, That should we on that shore phantasmal meet I should not know the coming of your feet?

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II · Edith Wharton · Poetry Cove