Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


INWARD COMPANION: THE DREAMER by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE

Poet Analysis

First Line: O THOU WHO GIVING HELM AND SWORD
Last Line: IS SLEEP.

O thou who giving helm and sword,
Gav'st too the rusting rain,
And starry dark's all tender dews
To blunt and stain:

Out of the battle I am sped,
Unharmed, yet stricken sore;
A living shape amid whispering shades
On Lethe's shore.

No trophy in my hands I bring,
To this sad, sighing stream,
The neighings and the trumps and cries
Were but a dream.

Traitor to life, of life betrayed
O, of thy mercy deep,
A dream my all, the all I ask
Is sleep.



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