Classic and Contemporary Poetry
NATURE THE CONSOLER, by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Gladly I hail these solitudes, and breathe Last Line: The dusky gloaming falls before her shafts of light. Subject(s): Nature | ||||||||
GLADLY I hail these solitudes, and breathe The inspiring breath of the fresh woodland air, Most gladly to the past alone bequeath Doubt, grief, and care; I feel a new-born freedom of the mind, Nursed at the breast of Nature, with the dew Of glorious dawns; I hear the mountain wind, Clear as if elfin trumpets loudly blew, Peal through the dells, and scale the lonely height, Rousing the echoes to a quick delight, Bending the forest monarchs to its will, 'Till all their pond'rous branches shake and thrill In the wide-wakening tumult; far above The heavens stretch calm and blessing; far below The mellowing fields are touched with evening's glow, And many a pleasant sight and sound I love Would gently woo me from all thoughts of woe: Sunlighted meadows, music in the grove, From happy bird-throats, and the fairy rills That lapse in silvery murmurs through the hills; Great circles of rich foliage, rainbow-crowned By autumn's liberal largess, whilst around Grave sheep lie musing on the pastoral ground, Or sending a mild bleat To other flocks afar, The fleecy comrades they are wont to meet Homeward returning 'neath the vesper star! Oh, genial peace of Nature! divine calm That fallest on the spirit, like the rain Of Eden, bearing melody and balm To soothe the troubled heart and heal its pain, Thy influence lifts me to a realm of joy, A moonlight happiness, intense but mild, Unvisited by shadow of alloy, And flushed with tender dreams and fancies undefiled. The universe of God is still, not dumb, For many voices in sweet undertone To reverent listeners come; And many thoughts, with truth's own honey laden, Into the watcher's wakeful brain have flown, Charming the inner ear With harmonies so low, and yet so clear, So undefined, yet pregnant with a feeling, An inspiration of sublime revealing, That they whose being the strong spell shall hold, Do look on earthly things Through atmospheres of rich imaginings, And find, in all they see, A meaning manifold; The forces of divine vitality Break through the sensual gloom About them furled, All instinct with the radiant grace and bloom Caught from the glories of a lovelier world. A lovelier world! in the thronged space on high, Dwells there indeed a fairer star than ours, Circled by sunsets of more gorgeous dye, And gifted with an ampler wealth of flowers? Can heavenly bounty lavish richer stores Of color, fragrance, beauty, and delight On mortal or immortal sight, In any sphere that rolls around the sun? See what a splendor from the dying day Through the grand forest pours! Now, lighting up its veteran-crests with glory, Now, slanting down the shadows dim and hoary, Till, in the long-drawn gloom of leafy glades, At the far close of their impervious shades, The purple splendor softly melts away! Now, overarched by dewy canopies, And awed by dimness that is hardly gloom, We stand amidst the silence with hushed lips, Watching the dubious glimmer of the skies Paled by the foliage to a half-eclipse, And struggling for full room, With intermittent gleams, that quickly die In throbs and tremors, waning suddenly To the mere ghosts of flame, to apparitions Impalpable as star-beams in deep seas, Lost in the dark below the surface-ruffling breeze. Latest of all these marvellous transitions, And crowning all with their ineffable grace, The eyes of the night's empress, witching sweet, Scatter the shadows in each secret place, So that, where'er her beamy glances fleet, Shot through and through, as if with arrowy might, The dusky gloaming falls before her shafts of light. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...INTERRUPTED MEDITATION by ROBERT HASS TWO VIEWS OF BUSON by ROBERT HASS THE FATALIST: HOME by LYN HEJINIAN WRITING IS AN AID TO MEMORY: 17 by LYN HEJINIAN LET US GATHER IN A FLOURISHING WAY by JUAN FELIPE HERRERA IN MICHAEL ROBINS?ÇÖS CLASS MINUS ONE by HICOK. BOB BREADTH. CIRCLE. DESERT. MONARCH. MONTH. WISDOM by JOHN HOLLANDER VARIATIONS: 16 by CONRAD AIKEN UNHOLY SONNET 13 by MARK JARMAN A STORM IN THE DISTANCE (AMONG THE GEORGIAN HILLS) by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE |
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