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“Invective against Swans” by Wallace Stevens 🇺🇸 (2 Oct 1879 – 2 Aug 1955)
The soul, O ganders, flies beyond the parks
And far beyond the discords of the wind.
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A bronze rain from the sun descending marks
The death of summer, which that time endures
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Like one who scrawls a listless testament
Of golden quirks and Paphian caricatures,
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Bequeathing your white feathers to the moon
And giving your bland motions to the air.
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Behold, already on the long parades
The crows anoint the statues with their dirt.
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And the soul, O ganders, being lonely, flies
Beyond your chilly chariots, to the skies.