Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE HEART RECALCITRANT, by LEONORA SPEYER


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE HEART RECALCITRANT, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Does the heart grieve on
Last Line: Across its own oblivion?
Subject(s): Grief; Hearts; Love - Loss Of; Sorrow; Sadness


Does the heart grieve on,
After its grief is gone
Like a slow ship moving
Across its own oblivion?

Heart! Heart! Do you not know
That I have conquered pain,
Have parted from my woe?
That my proud feet have found their path again,
After the pathless heights—long after—
And that my hands have learned to bless
Their overflowing emptiness,
My lips grown reconciled to laughter?

O laggard of dead roads,
O heart that will not heal nor break
Nor yet forget!
Tell me, whose tears are these
That greet me as I wake?
Why is my pillow wet?

Red Rebel, is it you
That lifted this wild dew
Like banners from my arid dreams
That roused this ember
From exiled ashes,
Calling me to remember?
Speak, is it you that wept
Upon my pillow while I slept?

Does the heart then grieve on,
After its grief is gone,
A treasure-ship that journeys
Across its own oblivion?





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