Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, PARIS BY NIGHT, by EDOUARD JOACHIM CORBIERE


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

PARIS BY NIGHT, by                    
First Line: Tis the sea - calm surface. - and the great tide
Last Line: On a bed of the morgue—with staring eyes.
Alternate Author Name(s): Corbiere, Tristan
Subject(s): Calm; Night; Paris, France; Placid; Undisturbed; Tranquility; Bedtime


'Tis the sea—calm surface.—And the great tide
Draws growling off with vain recurrent dabs:
Come murmuring in, the wave will not abide.
Do you hear the scratching of the night-crabs?

'Tis the drained Styx. Ragpicker Diogenes,
Lantern in hand, arrives there on good terms.
Along the dark flow, perverted poets please
To fish; their hollow skulls hold the worms.

'Tis the field: to glean the few foul scraps
Hideous harpies pounce in whirling flight.
The guttersnipe at the luckless rover snaps
And flees the bluecoats, harvesters of the night.

'Tis death: the police are laid. Love flaunts
Abroad; the flesh of an arm is the banqueter's
Feast, where the spent kiss in purple vaunts.
The hour's alone. Listen. Not a dream stirs.

'Tis life: Listen, the live spring hymns
Its eternal song over the slimy prize
Of a sea-god stretching his nude green limbs
On a bed of the Morgue—with staring eyes.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net