THE clouds are up, to sweep and tune That inharmonious harp, the moon; The north wind blows a harsh bassoon. An old astrologer might say, By signs, by portents whirled this way, That earth was nearing her decay. All apprehensions stir to-night With fluttering issues infinite, Conjunction, phantom, famine, blight; The woodland shakes its aged bones And shrieks; beyond, in deeper tones The ceremonial cypress groans; And I, the microcosm of all, Quake, shuddering, underneath the pall Of nature's hurrying funeral. Yes! though my sceptic brain rejects My sires' chain'd causes and effects, The nerves retain their deep defects; And still my heart leaps in my side, -- A fluctuant ark upon its tide, -- With throbs and throes unsanctified, And knows not how to brave the stir Of sounds that beckon and shout to her, Of sins that clouds and winds aver. I dare not sleep to-night, for dread Of spectral lights obscurely shed About my plum'd and shadowy bed. Faint, faint, these mildew'd chords that twang So feebly, where the music rang Deep organ-notes when Homer sang! Ah! strange to find the quivering crests Of long-laid faiths, forgotten guests, Rise up at memory's dim behests! Ah! strange to feel the soul resume Its cast-off heritage of gloom, -- The savage turning in his tomb! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE: 26 by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING RESOLUTION OF A POETICAL QUESTION CONCERNING FOUR RURAL SISTERS: 2 by CHARLES COTTON SONNET OF HIS LADY IN HEAVEN by JACOPO DA LENTINO LINES; SUGGESTED BY GRAVES TWO ENGLISH SOLDIERS ON CONCORD by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL MAUBERLEY: 5. MEDALLION by EZRA POUND THE CHARGE OF THE HEAVY BRIGADE AT BALACLAVA: THE CHARGE by ALFRED TENNYSON CHORIAMBICS: 2 by RUPERT BROOKE |