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Poetry Archives

A continuing selection of classic and contemporary poems.

Aurora

William Alexander

O happy Tithon! if thou know’st thy hap,
  And valuest thy wealth, as I my want,
  Then need’st thou not—which ah! I grieve to grant—
Repine at Jove, lull’d in his leman’s lap:
  That golden shower in which he did repose—
      One dewy drop it stains
      Which thy Aurora rains
      Upon the rural plains,
  When from thy bed she passionately goes.

Then, waken’d with the music of the merles,
  She not remembers Memnon when she mourns:
  That faithful flame which in her bosom burns
From crystal conduits throws those liquid pearls:
  Sad from thy sight so soon to be removed,
      She so her grief delates.
      —O favour’d by the fates
      Above the happiest states,
  Who art of one so worthy well-beloved!
Online text © 1998-2008 Poetry X. All rights reserved.
From The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250-1900 | Clarendon, 1919
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