The Golden Legend by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
page 13 of 177 (07%)
page 13 of 177 (07%)
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At open windows through a room!
_Lucifer._ Will you not taste it? _Prince Henry._ Will one draught Suffice? _Lucifer._ If not, you can drink more. _Prince Henry._ Into this crystal goblet pour So much as safely I may drink. _Lucifer (pouring)._ Let not the quantity alarm you: You may drink all; it will not harm you. _Prince Henry._ I am as one who on the brink Of a dark river stands and sees The waters flow, the landscape dim Around him waver, wheel, and swim, And, ere he plunges, stops to think Into what whirlpools he may sink; One moment pauses, and no more, Then madly plunges from the shore! Headlong into the dark mysteries Of life and death I boldly leap, Nor fear the fateful current's sweep, Nor what in ambush lurks below! For death is better than disease! (_An_ ANGEL _with an aeolian harp hovers in the air_.) |
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