I KNEW that he was dying; for the leaves Late-fallen, shivered on the frosty ground, Disconsolate, with the foreboding sound That Autumn whispers to the heart that grieves. The sunshine, slanting upward, smote the sheaves O'ershadowing the hill-tops ranged around, And where the swallow's empty nest was found, Spattered, as if with blood, the sheltering eaves. Twin fires together faded: and but one Rewakened o'er a world henceforth to me In everlasting twilight. To the Past The Present pays its tribute, whereupon Each moment coins the selfsame effigy, -- The more than all by wealth unwidowed cast. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LINES COMPOSED A FEW MILES ABOVE TINTERN ABBEY by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH THE MEDITATION OF THE OLD FISHERMAN by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS NURSERY REMINISCENCES by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM THE LITTLE KNIGHT IN GREEN by KATHARINE LEE BATES LIBERTINE by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN THE POWER OF RUSSIA by THOMAS CAMPBELL ALL-OVER LOVE by ABRAHAM COWLEY |