Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE FEAST OF THE GODS, by WILLIAM ROSE BENET Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: From a high tower I gazed at night Last Line: One psalter. ... Will we never know these gods are dead, and cannot live? Subject(s): Goddesses & Gods; Imagism; Mythology; Stones; Granite; Rocks | ||||||||
From a high tower I gazed at night On a great city hazed with light And humming like a dynamo life's various, vibrant, human strain. Domed by the blue and star-bright skies, The crowds beneath my peering eyes Seemed vast, dark shuttles, to and fro plying the threads of joy and pain. Of joy and pain, of death and birth! The whole refrain of this our Earth Thrilled me as though my nerves were wires tuned to the universal theme. And the great light below increased As if the gods were all at feast! ... A thousand multicolored fires swam on the glamour of my dream, For veils fell slowly from my sight. I stood beneath a Roman night Within a torchlit, templed square. (God, and how long, how long ago!) In the square's midst were tables spread. A great proud awning flapped o'erhead. And all the gods were feasting there, with servers hasting to and fro. As from the ground, and all around, There swelled a solemn chanting sound. Yet all untouched their banquet lay. The gods moved not. Their feast grew cold. Stranger their utter stillness grew, Till piercingly I gazedand knew What powers had swayed that ancient day,blank images of bronze and gold! And still that solemn chanting sound Swelled on the air and wrapped me round, Till shudderingly the vision passed. Once more my city sprang to light. Its crowds like shuttles plied again The multitudinous fates of men, And ponderously I felt its vast and diverse pulses shake the night. Despite the poet, sage, and priest, There the old gods sat all at feast! There in that haze of light below, offered the best all men can give! Blank images of gold and stone, Hearing this whirling world intone One psalter. ... Will we never know these gods are dead, and cannot live? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...STONE'S SECRET by MARGARET AVISON CONTRA MORTEM: THE STONE by HAYDEN CARRUTH NAMING FOR LOVE by HAYDEN CARRUTH OF THE STONES OF THE PLACE by ROBERT FROST THE EYE IN THE ROCK by JOHN HAINES THE HEAD ON THE TABLE by JOHN HAINES THE FALCONER OF GOD by WILLIAM ROSE BENET |
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