Classic and Contemporary Poetry
BEFORE THE MIRROR, by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Where in her chamber by the southern sea Last Line: And kissed her own dear image in the glass! Subject(s): Mirrors | ||||||||
WHERE in her chamber by the Southern sea, Her taper's light shone soft and silvery, Fair as a planet mirrored in the main, Fresh as a blossom bathed by April rain, A maiden robed for restful sleep aright, Stood in her musing sweetness, pure and white As some shy spirit in a haunted place: Her dew-bright eyes and faintly flushing face Viewed in the glass their delicate beauty beam, Strange as a shadowy "dream within a dream" With fingers hovering like a white dove's wings, 'Mid little, tender sighs and murmurings (Joy's scarce articulate speech), her eager hands Loosed the light coif, the ringlet's golden bands, Till, by their luminous loveliness embraced, From lily-head to lithe and lissome waist, Poured the free tresses like a cascade's fall. Her image answered from the shimmering wall, Answered and deepened, while the gracious charms Of brow and cheek, bared breast and dimpling arms, To innocent worship stirred her happy heart: Her lips -- twin rosebud petals blown apart -- Quivered, half breathless; then, subdued but warm, Around her perfect face, her pliant form A subtler air seemed gathering, touched with fire By many a fervid thought and swift desire, With dreams of love, that, bee-like, came and went, To feed the honeyed core of life's content! Closer toward her mirrored self she pressed, With large child-eyes, and gently panting breast, Bowed as a flower when May-time breezes pass, And kissed her own dear Image in the glass! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE FAT MAN IN THE MIRROR by ROBERT LOWELL THE CLOCK IN THE MIRROR by JOHN CIARDI EXPLICATION OF AN IMAGINARY TEXT by JAMES GALVIN SEEING FOR A MOMENT by DENISE LEVERTOV THE MIRROR IN THE WOODS by KENNETH REXROTH OPPOSITES: 38 by RICHARD WILBUR A STORM IN THE DISTANCE (AMONG THE GEORGIAN HILLS) by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE |
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