Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ALULVAN, by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: The sun is clear of bird and cloud Last Line: The doom of lone alulvan!' Alternate Author Name(s): Ramal, Walter; De La Mare, Walter Subject(s): Banshees | ||||||||
The sun is clear of bird and cloud, The grass shines windless, grey, and still, In dusky ruin the owl dreams on, The cuckoo echoes on the hill; Yet soft along Alulvan's walks The ghost at noonday stalks. His eyes in shadow of his hat Stare on the ruins of his house; His cloak, up-fastened with a brooch, Of faded velvet, grey as mouse, Brushes the roses as he goes: Yet wavers not one rose. The wild birds in a cloud fly up From their sweet feeding in the fruit; The droning of the bees and flies Rises gradual as a lute; Is it for fear the birds are flown, And shrills the insect-drone? Thick is the ivy o'er Alulvan, And crisp with summer-heat its turf; Far, far across its empty pastures Alulvan's sands are white with surf: And he himself is grey as the sea, Watching beneath an elder-tree. All night the fretful, shrill Banshee Lurks in the chambers' dark festoons, Calling for ever, o'er garden and river, Through magpie changing of the moons: 'Alulvan, O, alas! Alulvan, The doom of lone Alulvan!' | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE SORROW OF FINDEBAR by FRANCIS LEDWIDGE THE BANSHEE by ISABEL ECCLESTONE MACKAY THE BANSHEE by DORA SIGERSON SHORTER ALL THAT'S PAST by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE ALONE (2) by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE AN EPITAPH by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE ARABIA by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE |
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