Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THAT DAY, by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: I stand by the river where both of us stood Last Line: Go, -- be clear of that day! Subject(s): Infidelity; Forgiveness; Clemency | ||||||||
I I STAND by the river where both of us stood, And there is but one shadow to darken the flood; And the path leading to it, where both used to pass, Has the step but of one, to take dew from the grass, -- One forlorn since that day. II The flowers of the margin are many to see; None stoops at my bidding to pluck them for me. The bird in the alder sings loudly and long, -- My low sound of weeping disturbs not his song, As thy vow did, that day. III I stand by the river, I think of the vow; Oh, calm as the place is, vow-breaker, be thou! I leave the flower growing, the bird unreproved; Would I trouble thee rather than them, my beloved, -- And my lover that day? IV Go, be sure of my love, by that treason forgiven; Of my prayers, by the blessings they win thee from Heaven; Of my grief -- (guess the length of the sword by the sheath's) By the silence of life, more pathetic than death's! Go, -- be clear of that day! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FORGIVING MY FATHER by LUCILLE CLIFTON WHAT WE CARRY; FOR DONALD by DORIANNE LAUX THE MAN WITH THE HOE OUTWITTED by EDWIN MARKHAM SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: ELMER BARR by EDGAR LEE MASTERS LEAVING CHURCH EARLY by JOHN UPDIKE A CHILD'S THOUGHT OF GOD by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING |
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