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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE DOVES by THEOPHILE GAUTIER

Poem Explanation

First Line: ON YONDER HILLSIDE, WHITE WITH TOMBS
Last Line: BUT VANISH AT THE BREAK OF DAY.
Subject(s): DOVES; DREAMS; PALM TREES; NIGHTMARES;

On yonder hillside, white with tombs,
A palm tree's fan-like foliage blooms;
There, in the gloaming flock the doves,
To rest their wings and coo their loves.

At dawn the palm tree they forsake,
Like beads that from a necklace break,
And scatter airily in flight,
Upon some distant roof to light.

My soul doth, like that palm, receive
White dreams as visitors, at eve:
They drop from heaven — a while they stay—
But vanish at the break of day.



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