Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE MASKED BALL, by WILSON PUGSLEY MACDONALD Poet's Biography First Line: The heralds of dawn are blowing at the last star Last Line: And the dancers will lean homeward on their weariness. Subject(s): Religion; Theology | ||||||||
THE heralds of dawn are blowing at the last star; When it goes out the masks will come off And the dancers will lean homeward on their weariness. All who dance at the Ball of Life are masked Save the children and the poets and dreamers And a few old men and women. Sometimes a daring soul tugs at his mask; And the smart young fellows chide him and he hesitates, And the gay young ladies taunt him and he desists. No man can see God through a mask: No man can enter Heaven who is masked: But God and Heaven are small things at the Masked Ball. When the masks are tossed away I shall see The lovely, grown hideous -- the hideous, lovely. O, the joy when I shall behold nakedness of soul! Then shall I observe the courage of the coward And the timidity of the brave man. O, the joy when I shall behold nakedness of soul! Then shall I discover the purity of harlots And the lewdness of men at their morning prayers. O, the joy when I shall behold nakedness of soul! A mask is a hiding-place from truth, From virtue, from honor: It hates the nudity of love and the nakedness of kindness. At the Masked Ball the false are the proudest Of flesh, and their limbs are all beauty -- Their breasts are abundant, their fingers are tapered. But when the masks are torn from their eyes Their flesh will be foul and their limbs will be laggard, And their breasts will be milkless and withered. If Jesus should come to-day He would say: "Tear off the masks." And the Pharisees would lift another cross against the sky. Masks, masks, masks! How He hated them -- this Man of the Desert Who came once and danced with us at the Masked Ball. Comrades, I warn you the Masked Ball is near an end -- The heralds of dawn are blowing at the last star; When it goes out the masks will come off And the dancers will lean homeward on their weariness. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MYSTIC BOUNCE by TERRANCE HAYES MATHEMATICS CONSIDERED AS A VICE by ANTHONY HECHT UNHOLY SONNET 11 by MARK JARMAN SHINE, PERISHING REPUBLIC by ROBINSON JEFFERS THE COMING OF THE PLAGUE by WELDON KEES A LITHUANIAN ELEGY by ROBERT KELLY A GYPSY SONG by WILSON PUGSLEY MACDONALD |
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