Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE RUSTLE OF A WING, by ROBERT GREEN INGERSOLL


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE RUSTLE OF A WING, by                    
First Line: Life is a narrow vale between the cold
Last Line: Were haunted by a thousand fairy forms.
Variant Title(s): Hope Sees A Star
Subject(s): Brothers; Death; Half-brothers; Dead, The


Life is a narrow vale between the cold
And barren peaks of two eternities.
We strive in vain to look beyond the heights,
We cry aloud; the only answer
Is the echo of our wailing cry.
From the voiceless lips of the unreplying dead
There comes no word; but in the night of death
Hope sees a star, and listening love can hear
The rustle of a wing.
These myths were born of hopes, and fears and tears,
And smiles; and they were touched and colored
By all there is of joy and grief between
The rosy dawn of birth and death's sad night;
They clothed even the stars with passion,
And gave to gods the faults and frailties
Of the sons of men. In them the winds
And waves were music, and all the lakes and streams,
Springs, mountains, woods, and perfumed dells,
Were haunted by a thousand fairy forms.





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