Classic and Contemporary Poetry
OCTOBER, 1866, by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT Poem Explanation Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Twas when the earth in summer glory lay Last Line: From every treacherous path that ends in sin! | ||||||||
'TWAS when the earth in summer glory lay, We bore thee to thy grave; a sudden cloud Had shed its shower and passed, and every spray And tender herb with pearly moisture bowed. How laughed the fields, and how, before our door, Danced the bright waters!--from his perch on high The hang-bird sang his ditty o'er and o'er, And the song-sparrow from the shrubberies nigh. Yet was the home where thou wert lying dead Mournfully still, save when, at times, was heard, From room to room, some softly-moving tread, Or murmur of some softly-uttered word. Feared they to break thy slumber? As we threw A look on that bright bay and glorious shore, Our hearts were wrung with anguish, for we knew Those sleeping eyes would look on them no more. Autumn is here; we cull his lingering flowers And bring them to the spot where thou art laid; The late-born offspring of his balmier hours, Spared by the frost, upon thy grave to fade. The sweet calm sunshine of October, now Warms the low spot; upon its grassy mould The purple oak-leaf falls; the birchen bough Drops its bright spoil like arrow-heads of gold. And gorgeous as the morn, a tall array Of woodland shelters the smooth fields around; And guarded by its headlands, far away Sail-spotted, blue and lake-like, sleeps the sound I gaze in sadness; it delights me not To look on beauty which thou canst not see; And, wert thou by my side, the dreariest spot Were, oh, how far more beautiful to me! In what fair region dost thou now abide? Hath God, in the transparent deeps of space, Through which the planets in their journey glide, Prepared, for souls like thine, a dwelling-place? Fields of unwithering bloom, to mortal eye Invisible, though mortal eye were near, Musical groves, and bright streams murmuring by, Heard only by the spiritual ear? Nay, let us deem that thou dost not withdraw From the dear places where thy lot was cast, And where thy heart, in love's most holy law, Was schooled by all the memories of the past. Here on this earth, where once, among mankind, Walked God's beloved Son, thine eyes may see Beauty to which our dimmer sense is blind And glory that may make it heaven to thee. May we not think that near us thou dost stand With loving ministrations, for we know Thy heart was never happy when thy hand Was forced its tasks of mercy to forego! Mayst thou not prompt, with every coming day, The generous aim and act, and gently win Our restless, wandering thoughts to turn away From every treacherous path that ends in sin! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A MEDITATION ON RHODE ISLAND COAL by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT A WINTER PIECE by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT AMERICA (1) by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT ANTIQUITY OF FREEDOM by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT AUTUMN WOODS by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT DANTE by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT GREEN RIVER by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT HYMN OF THE CITY by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT INSCRIPTION FOR THE ENTRANCE TO A WOOD by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT JUNE (1) by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT MONUMENT MOUNTAIN by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT ODE FOR THE BURIAL OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT |
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