Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ECHOES: 35. MARGARITAE SORORI, by WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ECHOES: 35. MARGARITAE SORORI, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: A late lark twitters from the quiet skies
Last Line: The sundown splendid and serene, death.
Alternate Author Name(s): Henley, W. E.
Variant Title(s): The Happy Passing;i. M. Margaritae Sororis;so Be My Passing;some Late Lark Singing;in Memoriam Margaritae Sororis;margaritae Sorori
Subject(s): Death; Immortality; Religion; Dead, The; Theology


A LATE lark twitters from the quiet skies:
And from the west,
Where the sun, his day's work ended,
Lingers as in content,
There falls on the old, gray city
An influence luminous and serene,
A shining peace.

The smoke ascends
In a rosy-and-golden haze. The spires
Shine and are changed. In the valley
Shadows rise. The lark sings on. The sun,
Closing his benediction,
Sinks, and the darkening air
Thrills with a sense of the triumphing night --
Night with her train of stars
And her great gift of sleep.

So be my passing!
My task accomplish'd and the long day done,
My wages taken, and in my heart
Some late lark singing,
Let me be gather'd to the quiet west,
The sundown splendid and serene, Death.






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