Thomas Bailey Aldrich (Томас Бейли Олдрич)

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Enamored architect of airy rhyme,
Build as thou wilt, heed not what each man says:
Good souls, but innocent of dreamers' ways,
Will come, and marvel why thou wastest time;
Others, beholding how thy turrets climb
'Twixt theirs and heaven, will hate thee all thy days;
But most beware of those who come to praise.
O Wondersmith, O worker in sublime
And heaven-sent dreams, let art be all in all;
Build as thou wilt, unspoiled by praise or blame,
Build as thou wilt, and as thy light is given;
Then, if at last the airy structure fall,
Dissolve, and vanish — take thyself no shame.
They fail, and they alone, who have not striven.

1. Sestet
2. Identity
3. On Reading William Watson's Sonnet Entitled The Purple East
4. Marjorie’s Almanac
5. No Songs in Winter

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Количество обращений к стихотворению: 1719

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