Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, HELEN KELLER, by ROSE O'NEILL



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

HELEN KELLER, by                 Poet Analysis    
First Line: For us the shelter of the day
Last Line: With long sidereal look.
Subject(s): Keller, Helen (1880-1968); Night; Soul; Bedtime


For us the shelter of the Day,
Curtained with colored light;
In this brave tent we sulk and sing --
(Achilles safe from fight).
In golden folds we hide from Sight,
Consoled with many a grace,
Till the great Shield goes clashing down,
Till canopies of gold are down,
And Night, the foe of refuge,
Betrays us into Space.

But she, perpetually betrayed,
Beyond our gilded bars,
Her soul is the adventuress Night,
Uncoverer of stars.

But she, Familiar of the Night,
Habituate of Awe,
In noble darkness sits at gaze
Where no man ever saw.

Orphan of Sound and thrall of Still,
Where man can never tell
She holds the Void against her ear
Like a sounding shell.

And never succored by the Day,
Never by Day forsook,
She tends upon the wheeling God
With long sidereal look.





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