Classic and Contemporary Poetry
NORTH AND SOUTH, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Of the north I wove a dream Last Line: In the silence of the dream I found fulfilled. Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F. Subject(s): Dreams; Grapes; North, The; Southern States; Nightmares; South (u.s.) | ||||||||
OF the North I wove a dream, All bespangled with the gleam Of the glancing wings of swallows Dipping ripples in a stream, That, like a tide of wine, Wound through lands of shade and shine Where purple grapes hung bursting on the vine. And where orchard-boughs were bent Till their tawny fruitage blent With the golden wake that marked the Way the happy reapers went; Where the dawn died into noon As the May-mists into June, And the dusk fell like a sweet face in a swoon. Of the South I dreamed: And there Came a vision clear and fair As the marvelous enchantments Of the mirage of the air; And I saw the bayou-trees, With their lavish draperies, Hang heavy o'er the moon-washed cypress-knees. Peering from lush fens of rice, I beheld the Negro's eyes, Lit with that old superstition Death itself can not disguise; And I saw the palm-tree nod Like an Oriental god, And the cotton froth and bubble from the pod. And I dreamed that North and South, With a sigh of dew and drouth, Blew each unto the other The salute of lip and mouth; And I wakened, awed and thrilled -- Every doubting murmur stilled In the silence of the dream I found fulfilled. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE MYSTIC RIVER by GALWAY KINNELL ENTERING THE SOUTH by LUCILLE CLIFTON SNAPSHOTS OF THE COTTON SOUTH by FRANK MARSHALL DAVIS JULY IN GEORGY by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON O SOUTHLAND! by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON MY SOUTH: 1. ON THE PORCH by DONALD JUSTICE MY SOUTH: 3. ON THE FARM by DONALD JUSTICE A BOY'S MOTHER by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY |
|