Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE CAVE by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES

Poet Analysis

First Line: ONCE, IN THAT CAVE, I HEARD MY BREATH
Last Line: BACK TO THE OPEN LIGHT AND HOME.
Subject(s): CAVES; CAVERNS;
Once, in that cave, I heard my breath:
I heard my breath, as cowards do,
And guilty men; or misers, when
They sort their old coins from the new.
Tread softly there: in there a sigh
Has left a heavy groan behind;
Each whisper turns to thunder, and
A whistle to a gale of wind;
Hold tight your breath, nor cry for help
Where, though you perish, none may come:
And softly creep, before you're crazed,
Back to the open light and home.



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