Classic and Contemporary Poetry
AFTER DEATH, by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: The passionate sobs of the dear friends that came Last Line: Till silence ruled, with nothingness and night! Subject(s): Mourning; Bereavement | ||||||||
THE passionate sobs of the dear friends that came To look their last upon my living frame, And catch the fainting accents of my breath, That fluttered in the atmosphere of death, Were hushed to silence, and the uncertain light, That flickered o'er the arras to my sight, Grew paler and more tremulous, as life Sunk 'neath the power of that unequal strife, Which pits humanity against the spell Of one all flesh hath found invincible! I could not see my foe: but the whole space Was redolent of pestilence, and grace Of all things beautiful, and grand and free, Seemed lost in darkness evermore to me: I struggled with the invisible arm that wound So sternly round me, but could give no sound To the great agony that whelmed my soul In surges wilder than the eternal roll Of a world's waters, thundering round the Pole. Downward, still downward, the relentless hand Pressed on my being, and the iron wand Of his malign enchantment struck my heart With a dull force that made the life-blood start Forever from its courses; then a sense Of coming rest, more dreamless and intense Than ever wrapped mortality in still And throbless freedom from all thoughts of ill, Stole o'er the vanquished form and glimmering sight, Till silence ruled, with nothingness and night! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HUNGERFIELD by ROBINSON JEFFERS THE MOURNER by LOUISE MOREY BOWMAN HECUBA MOURNS by MARILYN NELSON THERE IS NO GOD BUT by AGHA SHAHID ALI IF I COULD MOURN LIKE A MOURNING DOVE by FRANK BIDART A STORM IN THE DISTANCE (AMONG THE GEORGIAN HILLS) by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE |
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