Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, EXTRACT FROM THE DREAM, by CAROLINE ELIZABETH SARAH SHERIDAN NORTON


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EXTRACT FROM THE DREAM, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh twilight! Spirit that does render birth
Last Line: Plods his sauntering way along, whistling the fragment of some village song!
Alternate Author Name(s): Stevenson, Pearce; Stirling-maxwell, Lady; Norton, The Honourable Mrs. Caroline
Subject(s): Dreams; Nightmares


OH, Twilight! Spirit that does render birth To dim enchantments; melting
heaven with earth, Leaving on craggy hills and running streams A softness like
the atmosphere of dreams; Thy hour to all is welcome! Faint and sweet Thy light
falls round the peasant's homeward feet, Who, slow returning from his task of
toil, Sees the low sunset gild the cultured soil, And, tho' such radiance round
him brightly glows, Marks the small spark his cottage window throws; Still as
his heart forestalls his weary pace, Fondly he dreams of each familiar face,
Recalls the treasures of his narrow life, His rosy children and his sunburnt
wife, To whom his coming is the chief event Of simple days in cheerful
labour spent. The rich man's chariot hath gone whirling past, And those poor
cottagers have only cast One careless glance on all that show of pride, Then to
their tasks turn'd quietly aside; But him they wait for, him they welcome
home, Fond sentinels look forth to see him come; The fagot sent for when the
fire grew dim, The frugal meal prepared are all for him; For him the watching of
that sturdy boy, For him those smiles of tenderness and joy, For him -- who
plods his sauntering way along, Whistling the fragment of some village song!





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