Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


A MIGRANT by JOHN FREEMAN

First Line: A MIGRANT FROM THE WAKING WORLD TO SLEEP'S
Last Line: HASTENING LEST DEATH SHOULD FIND HIM UNEMPLOYED.
Subject(s): FEAR; MIGRANT LABOR; MIGRATORY WORKERS; AGRICULTURAL LABORERS;

A MIGRANT from the waking world to sleep's
Dusk kingdom, torn with alien anarchy,
I enter, under a star-archèd sky,
Blessing the heavenly mystery that keeps
A planetary motion amid the deeps
Around. Into profounder mystery
I plunge, half bliss, half terror; I am I
No more, but a mad wanderer between steeps
Divinely pointing, and delirious caves,
Brightness of morning and a cloud-draped gloom,
Childhood's innocence and the cunning grave's
Foul chemistry. Then the slow-swelling void
Usurps all dreams, and fear limps from the room,
Hastening lest Death should find him unemployed.



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