Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SLEEPY HOLLOW, by WILLIAM ELLERY CHANNING (1817-1901) Poem Explanation Poet's Biography First Line: No abbey's gloom, nor dark cathedral Last Line: God's mercy in thy thought and life confest Alternate Author Name(s): Channing Ii, William Ellery Subject(s): Concord, Massachusetts; Death; Dead, The | ||||||||
No abbey's gloom, nor dark cathedral stoops, No winding torches paint the midnight air; Here the green pines delight, the aspen droops Along the modest pathways, and those fair Pale asters of the season spread their plumes Around this field, fit garden for our tombs. And shalt thou pause to hear some funeral bell Slow stealing o'er thy heart in this calm place, Not with a throb of pain, a feverish knell, But in its kind and supplicating grace, It says, Go, pilgrim, on thy march, be more Friend to the friendless than thou wast before; Learn from the loved one's rest serenity: To-morrow that soft bell for thee shall sound, And thou repose beneath the whispering tree, One tribute more to this submissive ground; -- Prison thy soul from malice, bar out pride, Nor these pale flowers nor this still field deride: Rather to those ascents of being turn, Where a ne'er-setting sun illumes the year Eternal, and the incessant watch-fires burn Of unspent holiness and goodness clear, -- Forget man's littleness, deserve the best, God's mercy in thy thought and life confest | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A FRIEND KILLED IN THE WAR by ANTHONY HECHT FOR JAMES MERRILL: AN ADIEU by ANTHONY HECHT TARANTULA: OR THE DANCE OF DEATH by ANTHONY HECHT CHAMPS D?ÇÖHONNEUR by ERNEST HEMINGWAY NOTE TO REALITY by TONY HOAGLAND HYMN OF THE EARTH by WILLIAM ELLERY CHANNING (1817-1901) |
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