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AFTER BROWNING.

A RIDDLE.

IMMEASURABLE distance up aloft in azure blue,

Storm-fed on hailstones, thunders, mountain dew;

Archetypal standard of the human race,

Of Freedom's standard now usurping place,

Full-orbed and semispherical

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With convoluted outline full of intricate design,

Yet hard and hollow as a woman's heart;

Supported on a vertical

And heaven-piercing shaft, almost divine

Thou seemest, yet thou art

The same which once on earth we knew.

Voracious monster, gorged with slimiest slime,

Vile, seeking darkness hid from view

Below, deep down below, from where man's time

Of soul-refreshing spirit-life is passed,

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