22 lines
906 B
Plaintext
22 lines
906 B
Plaintext
1816
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WHY DID I LAUGH TO-NIGHT? NO VOICE WILL TELL
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by John Keats
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Why did I laugh to-night? No voice will tell:
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No God, no Demon of severe response,
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Deigns to reply from Heaven or from Hell.
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Then to my human heart I turn at once.
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Heart! Thou and I are here sad and alone;
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I say, why did I laugh! O mortal pain!
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O Darkness! Darkness! ever must I moan,
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To question Heaven and Hell and Heart in vain.
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Why did I laugh? I know this Being's lease,
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My fancy to its utmost blisses spreads;
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Yet would I on this very midnight cease,
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And the world's gaudy ensigns see in shreds.
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Verse, Fame, and Beauty are intense indeed,
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But Death intenser- Death is Life's high meed.
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THE END
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