Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SORROW, by JOHANN SIGURJONSSON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SORROW, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Woe, woe, unto the fallen city!
Last Line: And bears new life, new sorrow.
Subject(s): Grief; Sorrow; Sadness


WOE, woe, unto the fallen city!
Where are thy streets,
Thy towers,
And thy sea of lights, the joy of night?
Like a coral in the bosom of the ocean
Thou dwelt beneath the blue sky.
Like a brooch of purest silver
Thou rested on the breasts of the earth.
Woe, woe!
Down in dark wells poisonous snakes are crawling,
But night takes pity on thy ruins.

The hoofs of life whirl dust into the sky --
Men in harness,
Insane women in golden chariots.
-- Give me salt to eat, that my tongue be parched within my mouth
And silenced be my sorrow.

On white horses we rode into the blue arc of heaven
And played with golden spheres;
We hung on to the mane of darkness
While it plunged through the abyss of space;
And we slept like moonbeams on the ocean waves.
Where are the mountains that shall crumble over my sorrow,
Hills, that shall hide my nakedness with dust?
A red dragon flies through eternity's darkest night
And spews poison.
Sun after sun falls drop by drop
And bears new life, new sorrow.





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