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Page:Bronze (Johnson).djvu/42

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BRONZE
LAOCOÖN
This spirit-choking atmosphereWith deadly serpent-coilEntwines my soaring-upwardnessAnd chains me to the soil,Where'er I seek with eager strideTo gain yon gleaming height,These noisesome fetters coil aloftAnd snare my buoyant flight.
O, why these aspirations bold,These rigours of desire,That surge within so ceaselesslyLike living tongues of fire?And why these glowing forms of hopeThat scintillate and shine,If naught of all that burnished dreamCan evermore be mine?

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