Classic and Contemporary Poetry
A NIGHT THOUGHT; WRITTEN IN ILLNESS, by JOHN CHALK CLARIS First Line: Rest dwells not on my brain to-night Last Line: Among the dead. Alternate Author Name(s): Brooke, Arthur Subject(s): Despair; Memory; Past | ||||||||
I. REST dwells not on my brain to-night But far o'er gone and coming things My fancy takes its dreary flight Upborne by forced and wearied wings. Whate'er of past affliction clings To Memory is revived once more, And if there from the future springs A doubta dread'tis felt before. Thus he who tracks the desert o'er Looks back but on the path of pains, And onward hears the gathering roar Of storms amid the engulfing plains. And thus the captive quits his chains To walk but in the wider cell Of the void world, when nought remains Of all which once he loved so well; Upon the past he may not dwell, 'Tis slaverytorturemadness there, And coming years, more horrible, But the dread gulf of blank despair! How can the wasted spirit bear The ills which e'en the happiest know, That feels, alas! it may not share The joys that soothe e'en guilt and woe. 'Twere well if that impending blow, Which trembling thousands daily dread, Before the morn would lay one low Among the dead. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FERGUS FALLING by GALWAY KINNELL A TIME PAST by DENISE LEVERTOV LAST THINGS by WILLIAM MEREDITH CHRISTMAS TREE by JOHN FREDERICK NIMS THIS MORNING, GOD by LAURE-ANNE BOSSELAAR AN INVITATION TO CELEBRATE THE BIRTHDAY OF THE POET MOORE by JOHN CHALK CLARIS |
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