Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, INVOCATION; WRITTEN AFTER THE DEATH OF A SISTER-IN-LAW, by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

INVOCATION; WRITTEN AFTER THE DEATH OF A SISTER-IN-LAW, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Answer me, burning stars of night! / where is the spirit gone
Last Line: "thine is, to trust in heaven."
Alternate Author Name(s): Browne, Felicia Dorothea
Subject(s): Women


ANSWER me, burning stars of night!
Where is the spirit gone,
That past the reach of human sight
As a swift breeze hath flown?
And the stars answered me -- "We roll
In light and power on high;
But, of the never-dying soul,
Ask that which cannot die."

O many-toned and chainless wind!
Thou art a wanderer free;
Tell me if thou its place canst find,
Far over mount and sea?
And the wind murmured in reply --
"The blue deep I have crossed,
And met its barks and billows high
But not what thou hast lost."

Ye clouds that gorgeously repose
Around the setting sun,
Answer! have ye a home for those
Whose earthly race is run?
The bright clouds answered -- "We depart,
We vanish from the sky;
Ask what is deathless in thy heart,
For that which cannot die."

Speak, then, thou voice of God within,
Thou of the deep low tone!
Answer me, through life's restless din --
Where is the spirit flown?
And the voice answered -- "Be thou still!
Enough to know is given!
Clouds, winds, and stars their part fulfil --
Thine is, to trust in Heaven."





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