----Roused by importunate knocks I rose, I turned the key, and let them in, First one, anon another, and at length In troops they came; for how could I, who once Had let in one, nor looked him in the face, Show scruples e'er again? So in they came, A noisy band of revellers, -- vain hopes, Wild fancies, fitful joys; and there they sit In my heart's holy place, and through the night Carouse, to leave it when the cold grey dawn Gleams from the East, to tell me that the time For watching and for thought bestowed is gone. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A SWING SONG by WILLIAM ALLINGHAM THE POET'S SHIELD by ARCHILOCHUS THE HOUSE AT EVENING by WILLIAM ROSE BENET |