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117

TO A YOUNG AMERICAN LADY

WHO HAD WRITTEN TO ASK ME FOR MY BOOKPLATE

Bookplate? I never had one. And my shelves
Carry no monstrous burden of books themselves.
Into a book called Life I oftener dip,
But even there I find a deal to skip:
Parts without glow—lack-lustre passages—
Its myriad soulless leaves—and round all these
The nightmare riddle of its authorship.