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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE BELLS AT MIDNIGHT, by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: How long, o sister, how long Last Line: Surely, some chieftain's soul! Subject(s): Assassination; Garfield, James Abram (1831-1881) | |||
In their dark House of Cloud The three weird sisters toil till time be sped; One unwinds life, one ever weaves the shroud, One waits to part the thread. I CLOTHO How long, O sister, how long Ere the weary task is done? How long, O sister, how long Shall the fragile thread be spun? LACHESIS 'T is mercy that stays her hand, Else she had cut the thread; She is a woman too, Like her who kneels by his bed! ATROPOS Patience! the end is come; He shall no more endure: See! with a single touch! -- My hand is swift and sure! II Two Angels pausing in their flight. FIRST ANGEL Listen! what was it fell An instant ago on my ear -- A sound like the throb of a bell From yonder darkling sphere! SECOND ANGEL The planet where mortals dwell! I hear it not ... yes, I hear; How it deepens -- a sound of dole! FIRST ANGEL Listen! It is the knell Of a passing soul -- The midnight lamentation Of some stricken nation For a Chieftain's soul! It is just begun, The many-throated moan ... Now the clangor swells As if a million bells Had blent their tones in one! Accents of despair Are these to mortal ear; But all this wild funereal music blown And sifted through celestial air Turns to triumphal paeans here! Wave upon wave the silvery anthems flow; Wave upon wave the deep vibrations roll From that dim sphere below. Come, let us go -- Surely, some chieftain's soul! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE SOBBING OF THE BELLS (MIDNIGHT, SEPT. 19-20, 1881) by WALT WHITMAN GARFIELD'S RIDE AT CHICKAMAUGA by HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH AT THE PRESIDENT'S GRAVE by RICHARD WATSON GILDER IN MEMORIAM: ON THE DEATH OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE ON THE DEATH OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES TO RALPH WALDO EMERSON, ON THE DEATH OF GARFIELD, SEPTEMBER, 1881 by ROBERT UNDERWOOD JOHNSON PRESIDENT GARFIELD by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW GARFIELD by CINCINNATUS HEINE MILLER AFTER THE RAIN by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH AN ALPINE PICTURE by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH AN ODE ON THE UNVEILING OF THE SHAW MEMORIA BOSTON COMMON, MAY 31, 1897 by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH |
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