Venice masks

Wednesday 5 December 2018

Self-Examination - Charles Heavysege

Open, my heart, thy ruddy valves;
  It is thy master calls;
Let me go down and, curious, trace
  Thy labyrinthine halls.
Open, O heart, and let me view
  The secrets of thy den;
My self unto myself now show
  With introspective ken.
Expose thyself, thou covered nest
  Of passions, and be seen;
Stir up thy brood, that in unrest
  Are ever piping keen.
Ah! what a motley multitude,
  Magnanimous and mean!

Charles Heavysege (1816–1876) Canada (born in England)
Source: The Oxford Book of Canadian Verse, edited by William Wilfred Campbell. Toronto, Oxford University Press, 1913

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