Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, MOONLIGHT CHURCHYARD, by DAVID MACBETH MOIR


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MOONLIGHT CHURCHYARD, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Round thee, pure moon, a ring of snowy clouds
Last Line: Sits spectre-like, the guardian of the tomb!
Alternate Author Name(s): Delta
Subject(s): Churchyards


ROUND thee, pure Moon, a ring of snowy clouds
Hover, like children round their mother dear
In silence and in joy, for ever near
The footsteps of her love. Within their shrouds,
Lonely, the slumbering dead encompass me!
Thy silver beams the mouldering abbey flout;
Black rails, memorial stones, are strew'd about;
And the leaves rustle on the holly tree.
Shadows mark out the undulating graves;
Tranquilly, tranquilly the departed lie!—
Time is an ocean, and mankind the waves
That reach the dim shores of Eternity;
Death strikes; and Silence, 'mid the evening gloom,
Sits spectre-like, the guardian of the tomb!





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net