'Tis bitter-sweet, when winter nights are long,
To watch, beside the flames which smoke and twist,
The distant memories which slowly throng,
Brought by the chime soft-singing through the mist.
Happy the sturdy, vigorous-throated bell
Who, spite of age alert and confident,
Cries hourly, like some strong old sentinel
Flinging the ready challenge from his tent.
For me, my soul is cracked; when sick with care,
She strives with songs to people the cold air
It happens often that her feeble cries
Mock the harsh rattle of a man who lies
Wounded, forgotten, 'neath a mound of slain
And dies, pinned fast, writhing his limbs in pain.
The Cracked Bell - (twelve Translations From Charles Baudelaire)
John Collings Squire, Sir
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Poem topics: happy, pain, people, sick, winter, soul, sweet, ready, long, fast, strong, cold, vigorous, confident, bitter, soft, challenge, watch, Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
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