Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE HOUR BEFORE DAWN by JOHN COWPER POWYS

First Line: WHEN THE PEOPLE AND HORSES HAVE GONE
Last Line: IT WHISPERS THE WORLD-SECRET.
Subject(s): DAWN; NIGHT; ROADS; SILENCE; SOUL; STARS; SUNRISE; BEDTIME; PATHS; TRAILS;

When the people and horses have gone
And silence has fallen,
The lonely road wakes;
And all night,
Under Cassiopeia and the Pleiades
It sighs for its lost travellers.
But at the hour before dawn,
When the stars are cold,
It whispers the world-secret.

When the ships have passed,
And their tracks have melted,
And the white horses have sunk,
The lonely sea wakes;
And all night,
Under Aldebaran and Arcturus,
It moans for its lost soul.
But at the hour before dawn,
When the stars are cold,
It whispers the world-secret.

When the camels have swept by,
And the caravan has vanished,
The lonely Desert wakes;
And all night,
Under Cygnus and Perseus,
It wails for its dead kings.
But at the hour before dawn,
When the stars are cold,
It whispers the world-secret.



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