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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
DISTICHS, by ROBERT REDFIELD JR.
First Line: Behind the hills the moon has sheathed his
Last Line: And ride the horses of delight across the buried years.
Subject(s): Cemeteries; Death; Graves; Graveyards; Dead, The; Tombs; Tombstones
First Line: Behind the hills the moon has sheathed his
Last Line: And ride the horses of delight across the buried years.
Subject(s): Cemeteries; Death; Graves; Graveyards; Dead, The; Tombs; Tombstones
I
BEHIND the hills the moon has sheathed his Saracenic blade,
Lest you should see the gleaming edge in dreams, and be afraid.
II
What gorgeous gifts the sun pours out upon the dewy field!
The spider, armored Amazon, receives an opal shield.
III
Like arrows leaping to the moon grow lilies white and tall,
But bluely burn the souls of men along the graveyard wall.
IV
You came and sat with me beneath the Tree of Dismal Hours,
And lo, the dark boughs burst in bloom with countless red-lipped flowers!
V
"Who are these pale, unhappy ones that pass Life's roses by?"
"They are the dearly loved of Death," I heard a voice reply.
VI
Your laugh is like these water-rings that widen as they die,
For as a sweet eolian ghost it murmurs in the sky.
VII
White is the highway of Today,—Oh, let us leave our fears
And ride the horses of delight across the buried years.
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