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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


NOCTURNE by ARTHUR WILLIAM SYMONS

Poet Analysis

First Line: I MAY FORGET ALL MORTAL THINGS
Last Line: THAT HEAVEN WAS BUT BEGUN.

I may forget all mortal things,
But not that night, the dome of cloud,
The rattling wheels that made our whispers loud,
As heart-beats grew to whisperings:
The long Embankment with its lights,
The pavement glittering with fallen rain,
The magic and the mystery that are night's,
And human love without the pain.

The river shook with wavering gleams,
That softly plunged through depths that lay
Impenetrable as the grave of day,
As near and far away as dreams.
A bright train flashed with all its squares
Of warm light where the bridge lay mistily.
The night was all about us: we were free,
Free of the day and all its cares!

That was an hour of bliss too long,
Too long to last where joy is brief.
Yet one escape of souls may yield relief
To many weary seasons' wrong.
"O last for ever!" my heart cried;
It ended: heaven was done.
I had been dreaming by her side
That heaven was but begun.



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