Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO LIONEL JOHNSON by ANNA BUNSTON DE BARY

Poem Explanation

First Line: ALAS! FOR THE HEARING OF YOUR EARS
Last Line: AS A JEWEL FOR HER ZONE.
Subject(s): JOHNSON, LIONEL (1867-1902);
ALAS! for the hearing of your ears,
The visions of your bed,
For the fruit of your lips, too soon withdrawn
From a world on ashes fed.

Alas! that the lamp God gave to you
Was housed in an earthen jar,
That the pitcher broke, and the light was spilt
Like a November star.

But I think that Mary leaned from her place
At the foot of the holy throne,
And caught and kept the star that fell
As a jewel for her zone.



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