Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S DAY, by ROBERT SOUTHEY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: The night is come, no fears disturb Last Line: And ye had joy in heaven. Subject(s): Courts & Courtiers; Death; Despair; France; Freedom; Future Life; Guilt; Saints; Dead, The; Liberty; Retribution; Eternity; After Life | ||||||||
THE night is come, no fears disturb The dreams of innocence; They trust in kingly faith and kingly oaths, They sleepalas! they sleep! Go to the palace wouldst thou know How hideous night can be; Eye is not closed in those accursed walls, Nor heart at quiet there. The monarch from the window leans, He listens to the night, And with a horrible and eager hope Awaits the midnight bell. Oh, he has hell within him now! God, always art thou just! For innocence can never know such pangs As pierce successful guilt. He looks abroad and all is still. Hark!now the midnight bell Sounds through the silence of the night alone; And now the signal gun! Thy hand is on him, righteous God! He hears the frantic shriek, He hears the glorying yells of massacre, And he repents too late. He hears the murderer's savage shout, He hears the groan of death; In vain they fly,soldiers defenceless now, Women, old men, and babes. Righteous and just art thou, O God! For at his dying hour Those shrieks and groans re-echoed in his ear He heard that murderous yell! They throng'd around his midnight couch The phantoms of the slain, It preyed like poison on his powers of life, Righteous art thou, O God! Spirits who suffered at that hour For freedom and for faith, Ye saw your country bent beneath the yoke, Her faith and freedom crush'd. And like a gaint from his sleep Ye saw when France awoke; Ye saw the people burst their double chain, And ye had joy in heaven. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...IKON: THE HARROWING OF HELL by DENISE LEVERTOV LEEK STREET by LAURE-ANNE BOSSELAAR UNABLE TO FIND by LAURE-ANNE BOSSELAAR THE AFTERLIFE: LETTER TO STEPHEN DOBYNS 3 by HAYDEN CARRUTH THE AFTERLIFE: LETTER TO STEPHEN DOBYNS: 1 by HAYDEN CARRUTH THE AFTERLIFE: LETTER TO STEPHEN DOBYNS: 2 by HAYDEN CARRUTH WRITING IN THE AFTERLIFE by BILLY COLLINS BISHOP BRUNO by ROBERT SOUTHEY |
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