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Ariel and Caliban with other poems

Cranch, Christopher Pearse (1813-1892)

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ARIEL AND CALIBAN.
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LIONEL AND LUCILLE.
  
SAN BORONDON.
  
THE OLD YEAR.
  
THE CENTENNIAL YEAR.
  
AFTER THE CENTENNIAL.
  
A NIGHT-PICTURE.
  
A CHILD-SAVIOR.
  
AN OLD UMBRELLA.
  
TO IONE.
  
AFTER-LIFE.
  
PRINCE YOUSUF AND THE ALCAYDE.
  
ROSAMOND.
  
A QUESTION.
  
MY STUDIO.
  
TALENT AND GENIUS.
  
VENICE.
  
THE TWO DREAMS.
  
AT THE GRAVE OF KEATS.
  
BROKEN WINGS.
  
SEA PICTURES.
  
ARS LONGA, VITA BREVIS.
  
LOVE'S VOYAGE.
  
SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST.
  
A WORD TO PHILOSOPHERS.
  
THE COAL-FIRE.
  
TWO VIEWS OF IT.
  
OLD AND YOUNG.
  
THE VICTORIES OF PEACE.
  
SUMMER DAWN.
  
THE OLD APPLE-WOMAN.
  
THE WEATHER-PROPHET.
  
OMAR KHAYYÁM.
  
LONGFELLOW.
  
RALPH WALDO EMERSON.
  
FREDERICK HENRY HEDGE, D. D.
  
SO FAR, SO NEAR.
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SONNETS.
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TO E. P. C.
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SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD.
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XI. THE PRINTING PRESS.
 12. 
XII. THE OCEAN STEAMER.
 13. 
XIII. THE LOCOMOTIVE.
 14. 
XIV. THE TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE.
 15. 
XV. THE PHOTOGRAPH.
 16. 
XVI. THE SPECTROSCOPE.
 17. 
XVII. THE MICROPHONE.
 18. 
XVIII. THE FIRESIDE.
 19. 
XIX. THE LADY'S SONNET. TWILIGHT.
 20. 
XX. THE LOVER'S SONNET. MIDNIGHT.
 21. 
XXI. THE PINES AND THE SEA.
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XXII. PENNYROYAL.
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XXIII. BEETHOVEN'S FIFTH SYMPHONY.
 24. 
XXIV. THE SECEDERS. 1.
 25. 
XXV. [THE SECEDERS.] 2.
 26. 
XXVI. IN A LIBRARY. 1.
 27. 
XXVII. [IN A LIBRARY.] 2.
 28. 
XXVIII. PAST SORROWS.
 29. 
XXIX. LIFE AND DEATH. 1.
 30. 
XXX. [LIFE AND DEATH.] 2.
 31. 
XXXI. [LIFE AND DEATH.] 3.
 32. 
XXXII. [LIFE AND DEATH.] 4.
 33. 
XXXIII. [LIFE AND DEATH.] 5.
 34. 
XXXIV. [LIFE AND DEATH.] 6.
 35. 
XXXV. [LIFE AND DEATH.] 7.
 36. 
XXXVI. [LIFE AND DEATH.] 8.
 37. 
XXXVII. TO JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER.
 38. 
XXXVIII. TO OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. ÆT. 70.
 39. 
XXXIX. BAYARD TAYLOR.
 40. 
XL. JOHN WEISS.
 41. 
XLI. GEORGE RIPLEY.
 42. 
XLII. TO G. W. C.
 43. 
XLIII. LONDON.
 44. 
XLIV. VEILED MEMORIES.
 45. 
XLV. TENNYSON. 1.
 46. 
XLVI. [TENNYSON.] 2.
 47. 
XLVII. TO G. W. C.
 48. 
XLVIII. GLADSTONE.
 49. 
XLIX. J. R. L. (ON HIS HOMEWARD VOYAGE.) 1.
 50. 
L. [J. R. L. (ON HIS HOMEWARD VOYAGE.)] 2.
 51. 
LI. THE HUMAN FLOWER. 1.
 52. 
LII. [THE HUMAN FLOWER.] 2.
 53. 
LIII. AUGUST.
 54. 
LIV. IDLE HOURS.
 55. 
LV. MUSIC AND POETRY. 1.
 56. 
LVI. [MUSIC AND POETRY.] 2.
 57. 
LVII. TO SLEEP.
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ORMUZD AND AHRIMAN.
  
A POET'S SOLILOQUY.

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157

XXVI. IN A LIBRARY.
1.

In my friend's library I sit alone,
Hemmed in by books. The dead and living there,
Shrined in a thousand volumes rich and rare,
Tower in long rows, with names to me unknown.
A dim half-curtained light o'er all is thrown.
A shadowed Dante looks with stony stare
Out from his dusky niche. The very air
Seems hushed before some intellectual throne.
What ranks of grand philosophers, what choice
And gay romancers, what historians sage,
What wits, what poets, on those crowded shelves!
All dumb forever, till the mind gives voice
To each dead letter of each senseless page,
And adds a soul they own not of themselves.
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