Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SPHINX, by SAMUEL VALENTINE COLE


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SPHINX, by                    
First Line: Her wings are folded in the plain that lies
Last Line: Her riddle, and no man has ever guessed.


HER wings are folded in the plain that lies
Like a vast shield upturned to every star.
She sits as silent as God's mountains are,
Forever watching with calm solemn eyes
The white worlds in the shadow, as they rise
And pass in slow procession, and afar
Dip o'er the verge of the horizon's bar
Into the depths of unfamiliar skies.
So, ever by this lonely watcher's gaze
The race of men are filing with the rest,
Stars, systems, all: Whence, whither, lie their ways?
Unto what other morning in the west?
She asks with mute cold lips, but ne'er betrays
Her riddle, and no man has ever guessed.





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