Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


WINTER COMING by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE

Poet Analysis

First Line: O, THOU ART LIKE AN AUTUMN TO MY DAYS
Last Line: YOUTH VANISHED, WINTER COMING -- I AND THOU!
Subject(s): WINTER;

O, thou art like an autumn to my days,
Shining in still, sweet light on lonelier hours
Of yellowing leaves, and well-nigh faded flowers;
In thy dear sight the birds renew their lays,
But with how faint a cheer! how meek their praise
Rememb'ring April gone! -- his crystal showers,
His heav'n-surmounting wind-engirdled towers,
And all the graveness of his childlike ways.

The hours press closer on to winter now;
In misty solitudes brief suns arise;
And all the wonder now hath left my eyes,
And all my heart sinks to remember how
Once, once we loved, we who are grown so wise --
Youth vanished, winter coming -- I and thou!



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