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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.
 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.
 22. 
XXII. PENNYROYAL.
 23. 
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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162

XXXI. [LIFE AND DEATH.]
3.

If death be final, what is life, with all
Its lavish promises, its thwarted aims,
Its lost ideals, its dishonored claims,
Its uncompleted growth? A prison wall,
Whose heartless stones but echo back our call;
An epitaph recording but our names;
A puppet-stage where joys and griefs and shames
Furnish a demon jester's carnival;
A plan without a purpose or a form;
A roofless temple; an unfinished tale.
And men like madrepores through calm and storm
Toil, die to build a branch of fossil frail,
And add from all their dreams, thoughts, acts, belief,
A few more inches to a coral-reef.
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