 | Life and Literary Remains of L. E. L. |  |
THE POET'S PAST.
Remembrance makes the poet: 'tis the pastLingering within him, with a keener sense
Than is upon the thoughts of common men,
Of what has been, that fills the actual world
With unreal likenesses of lovely shapes
That were, and are not; and the fairer they,
The more their contrast with existing things;
The more his power, the greater is his grief.
Are we then fallen from some noble star,
Whose consciousness is as an unknown curse:
And we feel capable of happiness
Only to know it is not of our sphere?
| Life and Literary Remains of L. E. L. | |