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ReadingWillow structured literacy program for Australian students
Poetry Library

— Stephen Crane

I stood upon a high place,

And saw, below, many devils

Running, leaping,

And carousing in sin.

…

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adjective

Engaged in or ready for action; characterized by energetic work, thought, or speech.

“The students were very active in class discussions, asking many thoughtful questions.”

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THIRD BOOK.

22 lines
Elizabeth Barrett Browning·1806–1861
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TO-DAY thou girdest up thy loins thyself,And goest where thou wouldest: presentlyOthers shall gird thee,’ said the Lord, ‘to goWhere thou would’st not.’ He spoke to Peter thus,To signify the death which he should dieWhen crucified head downwards.If He spokeTo Peter then, He speaks to us the same;The word suits many different martyrdoms,And signifies a multiform of death,Although we scarcely die apostles, we,And have mislaid the keys of heaven and earth. For ’tis not in mere death that men die most;And, after our first girding of the loinsIn youth’s fine linen and fair broidery,To run up hill and meet the rising sun,We are apt to sit tired, patient as a fool,While others gird us with the violent bandsOf social figments, feints, and formalisms,Reversing our straight nature, lifting upOur base needs, keeping down our lofty thoughts,Head downward on the cross-sticks of the world.
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