The Power of Art
George Santayana 1863 (Madrid) – 1952 (Rome)
Not human art, but living gods alone
Can fashion beauties that by changing live,--
Her buds to spring, his fruits to autumn give,
To earth her fountains in her heart of stone;
But these in their begetting are o'erthrown,
Nor may the sentenced minutes find reprieve;
And summer in the blush of joy must grieve
To shed his flaunting crown of petals blown.
We to our works may not impart our breath,
Nor them with shifting light of life array;
We show but what one happy moment saith;
Yet may our hands immortalize the day
When life was sweet, and save from utter death
The sacred past that should not pass away.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 34 sec read
- 73 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABCAADDAEFEFEF |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 617 |
Words | 115 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
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"The Power of Art" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/15803/the-power-of-art>.
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