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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE MYSTERY, by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR Poem Explanation Poet's Biography First Line: I was not; now I am - a few days hence Last Line: And tell me not the secret that I ask. | |||
I WAS not; now I am -- a few days hence I shall not be; I fain would look before And after, but can neither do; some Power Or lack of power says "no" to all I would. I stand upon a wide and sunless plain, Nor chart nor steel to guide my steps aright. Whene'er, o'ercoming fear, I dare to move, I grope without direction and by chance. Some feign to hear a voice and feel a hand That draws them ever upward thro' the gloom. But I -- I hear no voice and touch no hand, Tho' oft thro' silence infinite I list, And strain my hearing to supernal sounds; Tho' oft thro' fateful darkness do I reach, And stretch my hand to find that other hand. I question of th' eternal bending skies That seem to neighbor with the novice earth; But they roll on, and daily shut their eyes On me, as I one day shall do on them, And tell me not the secret that I ask. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A BOY'S SUMMER SONG by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR A CHRISTMAS FOLKSONG by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR A CORN SONG by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR A DEATH SONG by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR A HYMN; AFTER READING 'LEAD, KINDLY LIGHT' by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR A LITTLE CHRISTMAS BASKET by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR A LOVE LETTER by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR A LOVE SONG by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR A MUSICAL by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR A NEGRO LOVE SONG by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR |
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