Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE WANDERER: 5. IN HOLLAND: A DREAM, by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: I had a quiet dream last night Last Line: That I could not speak a word. Alternate Author Name(s): Meredith, Owen; Lytton, 1st Earl Of; Lytton, Robert Subject(s): Dreams; Netherlands; Travel; Nightmares; Holland; Dutch People; Journeys; Trips | ||||||||
I HAD a quiet dream last night: For I dreamed that I was dead; Wrapped around in my grave-clothes white, With my gravestone at my head. I lay in a land I have not seen, In a place I do not know, And the grass was deathly, deathly green Which over my grave did grow. The place was as still as still could be, With a few stars in the sky, And an ocean whose waves I could not see, Though I heard them moan hard by. There was a bird in a branch of yew, Building a little nest. The stars looked far and very few, And I lay all at rest. There came a footstep through the grass, And a feeling through the mould: And a woman pale did over me pass, With hair like snakes of gold. She read my name upon my grave: She read my name with a smile. A wild moan came from a wandering wave, But the stars smiled all the while. The stars smiled soft. That woman pale Over my grave did move, Singing all to herself a tale Of one that died for love. There came a sparrow-hawk to the tree, The little bird to slay: There came a ship from over the sea, To take that woman away. The little bird I wished to save, To finish his nest so sweet: But so deep I lay within my grave That I could not move my feet. That woman pale I wished to keep To finish the tale I heard: But within my grave I lay so deep That I could not speak a word. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...RICHARD, WHAT'S THAT NOISE? by RICHARD HOWARD LOOKING FOR THE GULF MOTEL by RICHARD BLANCO RIVERS INTO SEAS by LYNDA HULL DESTINATIONS by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN THE ONE WHO WAS DIFFERENT by RANDALL JARRELL THE CONFESSION OF ST. JIM-RALPH by DENIS JOHNSON SESTINA: TRAVEL NOTES by WELDON KEES TO H. B. (WITH A BOOK OF VERSE) by MAURICE BARING THE LAST WISH by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON THE WANDERER: 2. IN FRANCE: AUX ITALIENS by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON THE WANDERER: 2. IN FRANCE: THE CHESSBOARD by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON |
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