Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SORROW'S SHADOW, by FANNIE STEARNS DAVIS GIFFORD


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SORROW'S SHADOW, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Some days, when I am dressed in shimmer-stuff
Last Line: And take my hand, nor let me dance away?
Alternate Author Name(s): Davis, Fannie Stearns
Subject(s): Grief; Sorrow; Sadness


SOME days, when I am dressed in shimmer-stuff,
With yellow roses at my breast and hair;
When just the air and sunlight seem enough
To make the whole world delicately rare;
When people love me, and I them, and all
My heart is like a hill-brook's lilting call:

Then, if I pass her, in her dim black dress,
With heavy eye-lids darkened by old tears,
I feel a sudden clutch of loneliness;
I stare down vistas of unsparkling years,
And there behold myself, clad close in black,
With tired brows, thin hands, and aching back.

O Sorrow's Shadow! let me be awhile!
Wreck not my happy yellow roses: set
No watch upon my sudden cry and smile.
Why should I not forget -- ah, half forget! --
That Sorrow's Self will meet me some strange day,
And take my hand, nor let me dance away?





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