Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, WEARINESS, by CLAUDE HOUGHTON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

WEARINESS, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Beloved, I am weary of the world
Last Line: To place them with my soul beneath your feet.
Subject(s): Death; Melancholy; Weariness; Dead, The; Dejection; Fatigue


BELOVED, I am weary of the world,
Its raucous voices and its dissonant cries,
Its tyranny and its ingratitude;
And I have prayed that I might die to-night,
For in a dream I saw the form of Death
Pass through the mists of an autumnal wood,
And he had purple poppies in his hair,
Whiter than alabaster were his feet,
And in the depths of his dark eyes dwelt peace ...
But, my belovèd, God heard not my prayer,
And I am fettered fast to this gray life;
Yea, I am doomed to make my weary way
Across this desert endless as my sorrows,
Whipped by the rain as endless as my tears,
Unto what unknown terror at the end?

You are the one oasis in this world,
And travel-stained, footsore, and wondrous sad,
I come to you and drown my agony
Within the depths of your dream-heavy eyes,
And in the perfumed bower of your hair
I breathe the fragrance of long-faded dreams;
I come to kneel before you and adore
The pallid beauty of your loveliness
And all the wonder of your purity.
O fair white woman! lo, I come to you,
And though, since I am poor, I may not bring
Rich gifts of frankincense and gold and myrrh,
I bring with reverent hands my white desire,
And my unnumbered opalescent dreams,
To place them with my soul beneath your feet.





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