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LeftishBrit

(41,202 posts)
Sun Dec 22, 2019, 02:57 PM Dec 2019

The Last Word by Matthew Arnold

(Victorian poem; have used the last lines as my signature)


Creep into thy narrow bed,
Creep, and let no more be said!
Vain thy onset! All stands fast.
Thou thyself must break at last.

Let the long contention cease!
Geese are swans, and swans are geese.
Let them have it how they will!
Thou art tired: best be still.

They out-talked thee, hissed thee, tore thee?
Better men fared thus before thee;
Fired their ringing shot and passed,
Hotly charged and sank at last.

Charge once more, then, and be dumb!
Let the victors, when they come,
When the forts of folly fall,
Find thy body by the wall!

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The Last Word by Matthew Arnold (Original Post) LeftishBrit Dec 2019 OP
Some things don't seem to change LeftishBrit Dec 2019 #1
To thine own self be true. Karadeniz Dec 2019 #2
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