Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, DULCE LUMEN, TRISTE NUMEN, SUAVE LUMEN LUMINUM, by JAMES ELROY FLECKER


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

DULCE LUMEN, TRISTE NUMEN, SUAVE LUMEN LUMINUM, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The town whose quiet veins are dark green sea
Last Line: Bravely, like men who see beyond the skies.


The town whose quiet veins are dark green sea,
The town whose flowers and forests are bright stone:
There it was the God came to you and me
In the signless depth of summer. All alone
We lay, and half in dream
Gazed at the thin salt stream,
And heard the ripples talking lazily.

No verdurous growth, no sudden sharp decline
Of buds or leaves is there: the marble towers
Come rain, come cold, come snow or gay sunshine
Blossom eternally with graven flowers;
Yet there the mild God came,
In silence, shod with flame,
Girdled with mystery and crowned with vine.

We lay in the sun and listened and we heard
Soft-treading feet and whispers in the air,
And thunder far away, like a god's word
Of dire import, and saw the noonday flare
And tall white palaces
Sway all with dizziness;
The bells pealed faintly, and the water stirred

And Life stood still a moment, mists came swinging
Blindly before us; suddenly we passed
The boundaries of joy: our hearts were ringing
True to the trembling world: we stood at last
Beyond the golden gate,
Masters of Time and Fate,
And knew the tune that Sun and Stars were singing.

For like two travellers on a hill, who stay
Viewing the smoke that dims the busy plains,
So, far away (sweet words are "far away"!)
We saw our life: and all its crooked lanes,
Dim cities and dark walls
Fell as a world that falls
And left us radiant in the Wind of Day.

An end, an end! Again the leaden noon
Glowed, and hot Fever opened her red eyes,
And Misery came creeping out, and soon
We felt once more the sorrow of the Wise.
Come, friend! We travel on
(That one brief vision gone)
Bravely, like men who see beyond the skies.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


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