Classic and Contemporary Poetry
COMMUNION, by HILDEGARDE FLANNER First Line: I have spoken with the dead Last Line: I pass, for I have talked with death! Subject(s): Death; Eucharist; Dead, The; Communion | ||||||||
I have spoken with the dead; From the silence of my bed I have heard them in the night. Their voices are as white As altar candles. Their voices are as gold as wheat, And clustered in the dark their words are sweet As ripened fruit. Their voices are the color of dim rain Over grass where spring has lain. Their speaking is an orchard of delight. I have heard them in the night; Their lips bloomed into heavy song That hung like bells above me. You are wrong Who say the dead lie still: I heard them sing until The cup of silence fell in two and lay Broken by beauty of what dead men say. There is no loveliness I cannot see. There is no wall too stern for me. There is no door that can withstand The lifted symbol of my hand. I know an ancient shibboleth: I pass, for I have talked with Death! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE BUGLER'S FIRST COMMUNION by GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS NO-MORE-FEAR by WILLIAM ROSE BENET SURSUM CORDA by MARGARET CARROLL BRADY ON CHURCH COMMUNION by JOHN BYROM HOLY COMMUNION by ADA CAMBRIDGE INTERLUDE by MARJORIE EASTWOOD DUDLEY A BIRD SINGS AT NIGHT by HILDEGARDE FLANNER |
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