Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE TRAVELLER, by KATHLEEN JESSIE RAINE Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: A hundred years I slept beneath a thorn Last Line: I am the world's ashes, and the kindling fire. Subject(s): Desire; Life; Memory; Travel; Journeys; Trips | ||||||||
A hundred years I slept beneath a thorn Until the tree was root and branches of my thought, Until white petals blossomed in my crown. A thousand years I floated in a lake Until my brimful eye could hold The scattered moonlight and the burning cloud. Mine is the gaze that knows Eyebright, asphodel, and briar rose. I have seen the rainbow open, the sun close. A wind that blows about the land I have raised temples of snow, castles of sand And left them empty as a dead hand. A winged ephemerid I am born With myriad eyes and glittering wings That flames must wither or waters drown. I must live, I must die, I am the memory of all desire, I am the world's ashes, and the kindling fire. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...RICHARD, WHAT'S THAT NOISE? by RICHARD HOWARD LOOKING FOR THE GULF MOTEL by RICHARD BLANCO RIVERS INTO SEAS by LYNDA HULL DESTINATIONS by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN THE ONE WHO WAS DIFFERENT by RANDALL JARRELL THE CONFESSION OF ST. JIM-RALPH by DENIS JOHNSON SESTINA: TRAVEL NOTES by WELDON KEES TO H. B. (WITH A BOOK OF VERSE) by MAURICE BARING A MESSAGE TO MICHAEL by KATHLEEN JESSIE RAINE |
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