The sedge was sere; the water still, As waiting for the wintry chill; When, shadow-like along the hill, She moved alone. The owl, upon a blasted limb, From sepulchres of silence dim Made charnel echoes mock for him Their dying moan. Upon the forehead of the night The moon, foreboding in affright -- A film of solitary light -- Above her shone. What meant the omen of the bird? The moon with blinding vapours blurred? What in her heart of anguish stirred The stifled groan? A plunge, a ripple, and a sigh Of waters; fleeting soul, reply, Was it for death of love to die, Or to atone? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE HEART'S RETURN by EDWIN MARKHAM A MOTHER TO HER WAKING INFANT by JOANNA BAILLIE SUMTER by HENRY HOWARD BROWNELL THE DARKLING THRUSH by THOMAS HARDY ODES: BOOK 2: ODE 2. TO SLEEP by MARK AKENSIDE PSALM 38. DOMINE NE IN FURORE by OLD TESTAMENT BIBLE |