Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, REVERIE IN A CLASSROOM, by DOROTHY LAUD BROWN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

REVERIE IN A CLASSROOM, by                    
First Line: The sun and the shadow on the rusty brick houses
Last Line: Clang! Back to work! Shouts the great brass bell.
Subject(s): Schools; Wellesley College; Students


THE sun and the shadow on the rusty brick houses
Are violet and hazy in the vapors of a thaw,
And the newly washed sod has a perfume that arouses
The longing for an April such as mortal never saw.

Far, far away, beyond the crest of the tomorrows,
Veiled in the mist of the blue horizon line,
April's dancing feet are quickening the furrows,
And the scent of steaming mould stirs the blood like wine.

April, April, I will come to welcome you;
Here the rumble deafens, and the grime is blinding me:
Sound me a flute call, a magic silver halloo,
Call me to an island in a sapphire sea.

There in a villa, white where the vineyards
Curl their rosy fingers in the sun's diurnal smile,
And just below the terrace the gulls are winging seawards,
And the surf faintly whispering, I would dream awhile.

Scent of flowering lemon and low voice of quiet sea,
Silver olive boles and silver of the spray
Circle me with murmuring and swallow-song, and silently
A white-winged ship glides homing up the bay.

There's April on the cliff where the crevices are moss-green,
April on the vine, and thrusting through the loam,
But within my beating heart there's a blossoming unseen,
Rosy as the quince, for my love has come home.

We shall foot it swiftly, step to piercing faun-flute,
We shall lie at ease in a shadow-dappled dell,
April on our lips, and -- Clang! Be resolute!
Clang! Back to Work! shouts the great brass bell.





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