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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SONNET: NIGHT-WINDS IN WINTER by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE

Poet Analysis

First Line: WINDS! ARE THEY WINDS? - OR MYRIAD GHOSTS, THAT SHRIEK?
Last Line: WHILE PERSEUS DROOPS, TOUCHED BY TRANSFIGURING SHADE!
Subject(s): WIND;

WINDS! @3are@1 they winds? -- or myriad ghosts, that shriek?
Ghosts of poor mariners, drowned in Northern seas,
Beside the surf-tormented Hebrides,
Whose voices now of tide-born terror speak
In tones to blanch the boldest listener's cheek?
Hark! how they thunder down the far-off leas,
Sweep the scourged hills, and smite the woodland trees,
To die where towers yon glittering mountain-peak!
A moment's stillness! Then with lustier might
Of wing and voice, these marvellous wraiths of air
Fill with dread sound the ominous heights of night.
Athwart their stormful breath the star-throngs fade:
How dimmed is Cassiopaeia's radiant chair,
While Perseus droops, touched by transfiguring shade!



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