Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE LILY, by STEPHEN PHILLIPS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE LILY, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: I dreamed that after wandering long I came
Last Line: And as I walked beside her, I awoke.
Subject(s): Dreams; Flowers; Lilies; Nightmares


I DREAMED that after wandering long I came
To a dark garden with frail souls for flowers;
And saw the gentle lady we call Death
Pace to and fro; above each bloom she bent,
Then passed: a slumbrous sky above her rolled
Cloud upon cloud: and from those human flowers
A tragic odour like emotion rose.
I followed in her steps, and now she touched
Some poppy that had been a dreamer frail,
Or rose that was a passionate Eastern queen.
But on a sudden I implored her hand,
And should have fallen: from a lily near
What sweet and paining odour to my brain
Darted, with delicate, unhappy smell
Of trouble old and gladness far away!
I knew more surely than from any face,
More certainly remembered than at words,
And slowly swooning said, "'Tis she! 'tis she!"
Then looking to that lady cold, whose face
No sternness and no pity had, I said,
"Lady, this flower but a little while,
O! but a little while, has risen here:
Have a deep care of it! a small neglect,
A brief oblivion overburdens it.
For she, that is this flower, and merely blows
So strangely silent and so white, was used
To be much loved, and guarded wistfully.
O! from this flower be never far away!"
But she to whom I spoke moved slowly on,
And as I walked beside her, I awoke.





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