Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE AFTERNOTE OF THE HOUR by CHARLES TENNYSON TURNER

First Line: THE HOUR HAD STRUCK, BUT STILL THE AIR WAS FILL'D
Last Line: AND TURN'D IT HEAVENWARDS, TO ITS PROPER BOURNE.
Subject(s): TIME;

The hour had struck, but still the air was fill'd
With the long sequence of that mighty tone;
A wild AEolian afternote, that thrill'd
My spirit, as I kiss'd that dear headstone;
A voice that seem'd through all the Past to go -
From the bell's mouth the lonely cadence swept,
Like the faint cry of unassisted woe,
Till, in my profitless despair, I wept;
My hope seem'd wreck'd! but soon I ceased to mourn;
A nobler meaning in that voice I found,
Whose scope lay far beyond that burial-ground;
'Twas grief, but grief to distant glory bound!
Faith took the helm of that sweet wandering sound,
And turn'd it heavenwards, to its proper bourne.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net