Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


DILEMMA by JOHN COWPER POWYS

First Line: THE SHADOWS FALL AS THE SUN SINKS DOWN
Last Line: OR BE LOST ON A MIDNIGHT-ROAD?
Subject(s): NIGHT; SHADOWS; SUN; TRAVEL; BEDTIME; JOURNEYS; TRIPS;

The shadows fall as the sun sinks down
And heavily droops the day;
A leaden pall weighs on tower and town
And the last of the dead leaves flutters down
And the swallows fly away.

And the road winds always across the plain,
And always its milestones glimmer white;
But the travellers there come not again:
They are lost in the night.

Will the swallows never fly back to our eaves?
Will our branches never bear fresh green leaves?
Will the sun never lift our load?
Must we live weighed down in a twilight-town
Or be lost on a midnight-road?



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