Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, RESPITE, by WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS



Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

RESPITE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Drowsing, the other afternoon, I lay
Last Line: That now again beneath their lids are hot.
Alternate Author Name(s): Howells, W. D.
Subject(s): Death; Dreams; Mothers; Dead, The; Nightmares


Drowsing, the other afternoon, I lay
In that sweet interlude that falls between
Waking and sleeping, when all being is seen
Of one complexion, and the vague dreams play
Among the thoughts, and the thoughts go astray
Among the dreams. My mother, who has been
Dead almost half my life, appeared to lean
Above me, a boy, in a house far away,
That once was home, and all the troubled years
That have been since were as if they were not.
The voices that are hushed were in my ears,
The looks and motions that I had forgot
Were in my eyes; and they disowned the tears
That now again beneath their lids are hot.





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