Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE WIZARD, by MARGARET LOUISA WOODS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE WIZARD, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Somewhere, nobody knows
Last Line: And the bones drift by with a rustling sound.
Alternate Author Name(s): Woods, Mrs. Margaret Louisa Bradley
Subject(s): Death; Drowning; Mystery; Seashore; Tragedy; Dead, The; Beach; Coast; Shore


SOMEWHERE, nobody knows,
Yet I think it must be
In the buried country under the sea,
The sunken town where nobody goes
Save the men who are drowned—
Their bones are drifting about the street
And knock at the doors with a rustling sound—
There must he dwell,
The Wizard who grudges men their bliss.
His house is Hell,
And he sits there staring into the street.

Red and white and black and grey
Familiars drift like moths his way—
Eddying float on filmy wings,
Or cling to the walls of the Wizard's cell.
They swarm and rise, transparent things,
As, whispering one by one, they tell
How men above do that and this.

Of earth's good joy when the Wizard hears,
The shining towers and fields of corn,
He is silent, staring into the street;
And when they tell of the children born,
The merry souls, and how life is sweet,
He would weep for rage, but he has no tears.

The Wizard speaks:

"Spirits, black and red and gray"
—Under the sea his voice is dim—
"Have you seen a traveller bound this way?
The bones are tired in the streets of the town."

Whisperingly they answer him:
"Yea, master, yea;
A ruddy man, that hath much gold."
"What doth he do?"
"By the fire he sits,
Merrily warming his five wits."
"Cold, cold, a-cold
Shall they be when he cometh down.
Fal la! la la la!"

The Wizard speaks again:

"White brothers and gray,
Must the merry man be alone in the town?"
"Nay, master, nay;
Young is the maiden who journeyeth down."
"What now doth she do?"
"For her hair she is weaving a bridal crown,
For her wear she is choosing a bridal gown,
Counting the hours to her wedding-day."
"Let them be few!
The sea-foam shall wreathe her hair,
Seaweed her body shall wear;
I will make her wedding-bed,
Here, with the bones of the long dead.
Fal la! la la la!"

The Wizard speaks yet again:

"Red Mallikin, say,
Must I have only two?
The bones are white in the streets of the town."
"Nay, master, nay;
Over the sea there sail threescore."
"What now do they do?"
"The ship slides on in a dazzle of blue,
The sailors are yarning the mast before;
On the white deck the children play,
And passengers there walk up and down,
Or singing and dancing pass the day."
"Merry be the company!
Little know they
How the mad waves shall their partners be!
I shall watch them dance to the sunken town.
Fal la! la la la!"

Somewhere, nobody knows,
In the sunken town where nobody goes
Save the men who are drowned,
The Wizard sits and his sides he shakes,
Alone to himself good blood he makes:
And the bones drift by with a rustling sound.





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