Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE BLIND MAN, by THEOPHILE GAUTIER


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE BLIND MAN, by             Poem Explanation         Poet's Biography
First Line: As haggard as an owl by day, / a blind man through the town doth stray
Last Line: Shall see distinctly in the tomb!
Alternate Author Name(s): Theo, Le Bon
Subject(s): Blindness; Death; Visually Handicapped; Dead, The


As haggard as an owl by day,
A blind man through the town doth stray,
While, vaguely groping 'mid the keys,
A dreary flute his fingers tease.

He pipeth antiquated strains
Wherein scant melody remains,
And, like a ghost, with sightless eyes
Where'er his dog may lead him, hies.

For him the noon-day hath no light;
For him, the world is drowned in night;
He hears it roaring, like the fall
Of plunging streams behind a wall.

God knows what dark chimeras vain
Haunt the dim chambers of his brain;
What fantasies inscrutable
Thought writes within his reason's cell!

So oft, half-crazed by want of sleep,
Some captive in a dungeon-keep
With rusty nail obscurely scrawls
Strange hieroglyphics on the walls.

Still, who can tell? Perchance, when Death
Hath quenched Life's taper with his breath,
The blind man's soul, inured to gloom,
Shall see distinctly in the tomb!





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