Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE VALLEY OF UNREST (2), by EDGAR ALLAN POE Poet's Biography First Line: Once it smiled a silent dell Last Line: Perennial tears descend in gems. Subject(s): Imagination; Landscape; Fancy | ||||||||
Once it smiled a silent dell Where the people did not dwell; They had gone unto the wars, Trusting to the mild-eyed stars, Nightly, from their azure towers, To keep watch above the flowers, In the midst of which all day The red sun-light lazily lay. Now each visitor shall confess The sad valley's restlessness. Nothing there is motionless -- Nothing save the airs that brood Over the magic solitude. Ah, by no wind are stirred those trees That palpitate like the chill seas Around the misty Hebrides! Ah, by no wind those clouds are driven That rustle through the unquiet Heaven Uneasily, from morn till even, Over the violets there that lie In myriad types of the human eye -- Over the lilies there that wave And weep above a nameless grave! They wave: -- from out their fragrant tops Eternal dews come down in drops. They weep: -- from off their delicate stems Perennial tears descend in gems. | Other Poems of Interest...THE IMAGINED COPPERHEAD by ANDREW HUDGINS A SICK CHILD by RANDALL JARRELL IMAGINARY TROUBLE by JOHN KENDRICK BANGS EVERYTHING THAT ACTS IS ACTUAL by DENISE LEVERTOV ON THE MEETING OF GARCIA LORCA AND HART CRANE by PHILIP LEVINE THE NATURE OF MAKE-BELIEVE by THOMAS LUX |
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