Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SMOKE by HENRY DAVID THOREAU

Poet Analysis

First Line: LIGHT-WINGED SMOKE! ICARIAN BIRD
Last Line: AND ASK THE GODS TO PARDON THIS CLEAR FLAME.
Subject(s): ICARUS; MYTHOLOGY - CLASSICAL; NATURE; SMOKE;
LIGHT-WINGED Smoke! Icarian bird,
Melting thy pinions in thy upward flight;
Lark without song, and messenger of dawn
Circling above the hamlets as thy nest;
Or else, departing dream, and shadowy form
Of midnight vision, gathering up thy skirts;
By night star-veiling, and by day
Darkening the light and bloating out the sun;
Go thou, my incense, upward from this hearth,
And ask the gods to pardon this clear flame.


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