Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE DARK, TO BE READ TO A CHILD, by LAURA SPENCER PORTOR


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE DARK, TO BE READ TO A CHILD, by                    
First Line: I see the first star shine
Last Line: The blessed dark!
Subject(s): Stars


I see the first star shine,
Delicate, fine;
I hear a watch dog bark!
Hush! the sedges sway, and bow, tender and low!
They know! They know!
Hush! Hush! Noiseless, noiseless here comes the Dark!
The Blessed Dark

And all her garments woven are of dreams,
And her white feet are silver on the streams.
Gentler than any breeze,
Tall, dutiful,
And, oh, most beautiful,
She brings star splendor and heart's ease
In either hand. And as she comes she sings
Songs that no mortal ear
But birds only hear,
With their fluffed heads beneath their sleepy wings.

What would you? For she brings
The heart's most dear desire.
Thyme, and rosemary, and sweet-smelling spice,
Sandal, and cinnamon, and most magical odors out of Paradise.
Ivory and peacocks from Samarkand;
O'er sapphire sea and topaz land
She brings. From Sheraphan
In Turkestan,
Ivory and pomegranates, amethyst, tourmaline,
And smoldering opals such as never yet were seen,
Save only of the boy Alla'ad dhin,
Stuffing his deep pockets full of gems,
The size of plums and apples, from the stems
Of trees in subterranean gardens marvelous;
All these, all these, and more she brings to us.

Oh, she has a store of riches that no spending can exhaust;
She has a key to kingdoms that can never more be lost;
She has in her cool fingers joys that no one else can bring,
And the mere hem of her garment is surcease of sorrowing.
The Dark, the blessed Dark!
Hark!
I hear a watch dog bark!
Hush! the sedges bend low, low!
They know! They know!
Noiseless, here comes the Dark --
The Blessed Dark!





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