Classic and Contemporary Poetry
WHILE CIGARETTES TO ASHES TURN, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: He smokes - and that's enough,' Last Line: While cigarettes to ashes turn. Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F. Subject(s): Dreams; Love; Night; Smoking; Nightmares; Bedtime; Tobacco; Pipes; Cigars; Cigarettes | ||||||||
I "HE smokes -- and that's enough," says Ma -- "And cigarettes, at that!" says Pa. "He must not call again," says she -- "He shall not call again!" says he. They both glare at me as before -- Then quit the room and bang the door, -- While I, their wilful daughter, say, "I guess I'll love him, anyway!" II At twilight, in his room, alone, His careless feet inertly thrown Across a chair, my fancy can But worship this most worthless man! I dream what joy it is to set His slow lips round a cigarette, With idle-humored whiff and puff -- Ah! this is innocent enough! To mark the slender fingers raise The waxen match's dainty blaze, Whose chastened light an instant glows On drooping lids and arching nose, Then, in the sudden gloom, instead, A tiny ember, dim and red, Blooms languidly to ripeness, then Fades slowly, and grows ripe again. III I lean back, in my own boudoir -- The door is fast, the sash ajar; And in the dark, I smiling stare At one wide window over there, Where some one, smoking, pinks the gloom, The darling darkness of his room! I push my shutters wider yet, And lo! I light a cigarette; And gleam for gleam, and glow for glow, Each pulse of light a word we know, We talk of love that still will burn While cigarettes to ashes turn. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ONE LAST DRAW OF THE PIPE by PAUL MULDOON CHANEL NO. 5 by LAURE-ANNE BOSSELAAR OLD MEN ON THE COURTHOUSE LAWN, MURRAY, KENTUCKY by JAMES GALVIN DOWN BY THE CARIB SEA: 2. LOS CIGARILLOS by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON A BOY'S MOTHER by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY |
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