Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE JOURNEY OF LIFE, by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE JOURNEY OF LIFE, by             Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Beneath the waning moon I walk at night
Last Line: With warmth, and certainty, and boundless light.
Subject(s): Conduct Of Life


BENEATH the waning moon I walk at night,
And muse on human life -- for all around
Are dim uncertain shapes that cheat the sight,
And pitfalls lurk in shade along the ground,
And broken gleams of brightness, here and there,
Glance through, and leave unwarmed the death-like air.
The trampled earth returns a sound of fear --
A hollow sound, as if I walked on tombs;
And lights, that tell of cheerful homes, appear,
Far off, and die like hope amid the glooms.
A mournful wind across the landscape flies,
And the wide atmosphere is full of sighs.
And I, with faltering footsteps, journey on,
Watching the stars that roll the hours away,
Till the faint light that guides me now is gone,
And, like another life, the glorious day
Shall open o'er me from the empyreal height,
With warmth, and certainty, and boundless light.





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