Classic and Contemporary Poetry
HER GHOST; IN MEMORY OF CICELY NARNEY MARSTON, by LOUISE CHANDLER MOULTON Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Her gentle ghost is with me everywhere! Last Line: Who loved thee not enough that other year. Alternate Author Name(s): Chandler, Ellen Louise Subject(s): Death; Marston, Cicely Narney; Dead, The | ||||||||
I. HER gentle ghost is with me everywhere! 'Twas here she came, one summer day, to die; Whispered my name, and then, all silently, Laid her loved head upon the pillow there And spoke no more. That summer day was fair And very glad with joyous minstrelsy Of choiring birds, and heedless gayety Of small, bright things who of the sun were 'ware: But, in the midmost glow of life, on Death She sudden chanced: he closed her dear, dark eyes; The air grew heavy with her parting breath, And Nature seemed to shiver in surprise; And then the things that morning had begun Fared on -- she too, like them, had sought the sun. II. NOW with the summer she has come again: Outside the birds sing as they sang that day, And summer things upon the air are gay; But she sits speechless, and her eyes are fain To hide from me their mystery of pain. . . . From heaven to earth, oh, dim and far the way! Why hast thou come? Be merciful and say -- Of what strange wrong do thy veiled looks complain? Hast thou brought back sad secrets from the skies; Or is it that the old days haunt thee still? Is that immortal sorrow in thine eyes Token of longings Heaven could not fulfil? Dear ghost, I pray thee answer, and forego The stern resolve of thy unspoken woe. III. THOU wilt not speak! Day after silent day. Thou sittest with me in this lonesome place: The morning sunlight falls upon thy face; Night comes, and thou and Night together stay, -- No sunshine warms thee, and no storms dismay. I stretch my empty arms for thine embrace Thou glidest from them with elusive grace: Thine unresponsive lips will never say The thing I long to hear; yet do I think, From me to thee, the living to the dead, Waiting together on the hither brink Of Death's great middle sea, some influence shed Must make thee know how now I hold thee dear, Who loved thee not enough that other year. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A FRIEND KILLED IN THE WAR by ANTHONY HECHT FOR JAMES MERRILL: AN ADIEU by ANTHONY HECHT TARANTULA: OR THE DANCE OF DEATH by ANTHONY HECHT CHAMPS D?ÇÖHONNEUR by ERNEST HEMINGWAY NOTE TO REALITY by TONY HOAGLAND A PAINTED FAN by LOUISE CHANDLER MOULTON |
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