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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE ALARUM by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON

Poet Analysis

First Line: STARK TO THE SKIN, I CRAWLED A KNIFE-EDGED BLADE
Last Line: AND HEARD THE CRAZY CLANGING OF A BELL.

Stark to the skin, I crawled a knife-edged blade
Of melting ice above the pit of Hell,
Flame-licked and scorched; yet strangely undismayed,
Till on my ears a dizzy clamour fell,
And dropt me sheer ... and, wakening in my bed,
I saw the sky, beyond the chimneys red
And heard the crazy clanging of a bell.



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