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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
NIGHT, by WILHELM KLEMM Poet's Biography
First Line: The river mutters to itself in the darkness
Last Line: To be or not to be. ...
Subject(s): Night; Bedtime
First Line: The river mutters to itself in the darkness
Last Line: To be or not to be. ...
Subject(s): Night; Bedtime
The river mutters to itself in the darkness
Like an actor rehearsing his rôle by night.
At intervals one hears time's eyelashes flutter.
People are sleeping, some upon pillows, some upon white cliffs.
Some of them have immense, terrible thumbs.
Women toss their long hair across their faces.
Meanwhile grey castles slowly fall to ruin.
Thin, black grasses arise,
Mountains uplift their white antlers.
Lord, give me a sign that you still live!
I begin to freeze and to be afraid.
It is already midnight. Hark!
The minster begins to sing in his brazen voice:
An old sentinel full of strength and troth,
Who chanting, cries the hour, and then is still.
Then night sinks deeper, into dreamless dark.
Only the river rehearses its spectral rôle:
To be or not to be. ...
Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!
Other Poems of Interest...
THE BREATH OF NIGHT by RANDALL JARRELL
HOODED NIGHT by ROBINSON JEFFERS
NIGHT WITHOUT SLEEP by ROBINSON JEFFERS
WORKING OUTSIDE AT NIGHT by DENIS JOHNSON
POEM TO TAKE BACK THE NIGHT by JUNE JORDAN
COOL DARK ODE by DONALD JUSTICE
POEM TO BE READ AT 3 A.M by DONALD JUSTICE
ROUND ABOUT MIDNIGHT by BOB KAUFMAN