The Complete Poetical Works of James Russell Lowell by James Russell Lowell
page 334 of 1368 (24%)
page 334 of 1368 (24%)
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Hardy enough for Truth's north wind,
Each several point of all her face Tremblingly bright with the inward grace, As if all motion gave it light Like phosphorescent seas at night. There jokes our EDMUND, plainly son 51 Of him who bearded Jefferson, A non-resistant by conviction, But with a bump in contradiction, So that whene'er it gets a chance His pen delights to play the lance, And--you may doubt it, or believe it-- Full at the head of Joshua Leavitt The very calumet he'd launch, And scourge him with the olive branch. 60 A master with the foils of wit, 'Tis natural he should love a hit; A gentleman, withal, and scholar, Only base things excite his choler, And then his satire's keen and thin As the lithe blade of Saladin. Good letters are a gift apart, And his are gems of Flemish art, True offspring of the fireside Muse, Not a rag-gathering of news 70 Like a new hopfield which is all poles, But of one blood with Horace Walpole's. There, with cue hand behind his back, |
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