Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A SISTER OF SORROW: 1. UP THE ROAD, by GORDON BOTTOMLEY



Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A SISTER OF SORROW: 1. UP THE ROAD, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Mother, he walks by the windy gate
Last Line: "daughter, I tell you the dead are dead."
Subject(s): Death; Dead, The


"MOTHER, he walks by the Windy Gate,
As though for my broken tryst a-wait."

"Daughter, I tell you he died last night
When I kept your tryst by lantern light."

"Mother, I know you murdered him:
But he thought you were I by the lantern dim.

"When I stole shivering past the place
He held me with his hollow gaze.

"His shape was thin as the edge of your knife,
And he clasped a formless bundle of life.

"'Lo' said he, 'for your heart a thorn:
This is our child that shall be born.

"'My deceit and your deceit,
How we sully this soul of it.'

"Mother, I cannot bear the thought.
Cannot you tell him I killed him not?"

"Foolish babble and nothing said:
Daughter, I tell you the dead are dead."





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...



Home: PoetryExplorer.net