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Poetry

Morn on her rosy couch awoke,

   Enchantment led the hour,

And mirth and music drank the dews

   That freshen’d Beauty’s flower,

Then from her bower of deep delight,

   I heard a young girl sing,

‘Oh, speak no ill of poetry,

   For ’tis a holy thing.’

The Sun in noon-day heat rose high,

   And on the heaving breast,

I saw a weary pilgrim toil

   Unpitied and unblest,

Yet still in trembling measures flow’d

   Forth from a broken string,

‘Oh, speak no ill of poetry,

   For ’tis a holy thing.’

’Twas night, and Death the curtains drew,

   ’Mid agony severe,

While there a willing spirit went

   Home to a glorious sphere,

Yet still it sigh’d, even when was spread

   The waiting Angel’s wing,

‘Oh, speak no ill of poetry,

   For ’tis a holy thing.’

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The glossary

The language about poetry

From aubade to zuihitsu, 207 definitions of the forms, figures, and schools that shape the line.

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