Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE STORY OF THE ASHES AND THE FLAME, by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE STORY OF THE ASHES AND THE FLAME, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: No matter why, nor whence, nor when she came
Last Line: Her kisses were the keys to paradise.
Subject(s): Love


No matter why, nor whence, nor when she came,
There was her place. No matter what men said,
No matter what she was; living or dead,
Faithful or not, he loved her all the same.
The story was old as human shame,
But ever since that lonely night she fled,
With books to blind him, he had only read
The story of the ashes and the flame.

There she was always coming pretty soon
To fool him back, with penitent scared eyes
That had in them the laughter of the moon
For baffled lovers, and to make him think --
Before she gave him time enough to wink --
Her kisses were the keys to Paradise.




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