“One, a poet, went babbling like a fountain
Through parks. All were jokes to children.
All had the pale unshaven stare of shuttered plants
Exposed to a too violent sun.”

— Stephen Spender

"Exiles From Their Land, History Their Domicile"
The Still Centre (1939)

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Stephen Spender 76

English poet and man of letters 1909–1995

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“One, a poet, went babbling like a fountainThrough parks. All were jokes to children.All had the pale unshaven stare of shuttered plantsExposed to a too violent sun.”

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Stephen Spender 76

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“One, a poet, went babbling like a fountain
Through parks. All were jokes to children.
All had the pale unshaven stare of shuttered plants
Exposed to a too violent sun.”