Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE MESSENGER, by WILLIAM ROSE BENET


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE MESSENGER, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: In a wild merriment of wind and bird
Last Line: "blind to our agonies of death and birth!"
Subject(s): Death; Language; Life; Messages & Messengers; Dead, The; Words; Vocabulary


In a wild merriment of wind and bird
God's gusty laughter swept me by but now
Upon my desperate errand, wondering how
Her heart would bear the truth, who ne'er had heard
Death's sudden and irrevocable word.
Yet all was light upon the upland brow.
Rich golden acres, fruitful from the plough,
Languished in light. The great sun smiled unstirred.

Then my heart raged against such cruel mirth
And to my lips there sprang a bitter cry,
"Would I were Samson, O thou mocking sky,
To bring thee ruining to this careless earth!
O proud and callous Beauty, flaunting by
Blind to our agonies of death and birth!"





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