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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


VENETIAN NIGHT by ARTHUR WILLIAM SYMONS

Poet Analysis

First Line: HER EYES IN THE DARKNESS SHONE, IN THE TWILIGHT.
Last Line: I REMEMBER HER SILENCE, AND, IN THE NIGHT, HER SMILE.
Subject(s): VENICE, ITALY;

Her eyes in the darkness shone, in the twilight shed
By the gondola bent like the darkness over her head.
Softly the gondola rocked, lights came and went;
A white glove shone as her black fan lifted and leant
Where the silk of her dress, the blue of a bittern's wing,
Rustled against my knee, and, murmuring
The sweet slow hesitant English of a child,
Her voice was articulate laughter, her soul smiled.
Softly the gondola rocked, lights came and went;
From the sleeping houses a shadow of slumber leant
Over our heads like a wing, and the dim lagoon,
Rustling with silence, slumbered under the moon.
Softly the gondola rocked, and a pale light came
Over the waters, mild as a silver flame;
She lay back, thrilling with smiles, in the twilight shed
By the gondola bent like the darkness over her head;
I saw her eyes shine subtly, then close awhile:
I remember her silence, and, in the night, her smile.



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