Classic and Contemporary Poetry
A SLEEPING BEAUTY, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: An alien wind that blew and blew Last Line: As he turned to go -- yet, pausing, gazed? Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F. Subject(s): Fairy Tales; Insects; Nature; Wind; Bugs | ||||||||
I AN alien wind that blew and blew Over the fields where the ripe grain grew, Sending ripples of shine and shade That crept and crouched at her feet and played. The sea-like summer washed the moss Till the sun-drenched lilies hung like floss, Draping the throne of green and gold That lulled her there like a queen of old. II Was it the hum of a bumblebee, Or the long-hushed bugle eerily Winding a call to the daring Prince Lost in the wood long ages since? -- A dim old wood, with a palace rare Hidden away in its depths somewhere! Was it the Princess, tranced in sleep, Awaiting her lover's touch to leap Into the arms that bent above? To thaw his heart with the breath of love -- And cloy his lips, through her waking tears, With the dead-ripe kiss of a hundred years! III An alien wind that blew and blew. -- I had blurred my eyes as the artists do, Coaxing life to a half-sketched face, Or dreaming bloom for a grassy place. The bee droned on in an undertone; And a shadow-bird trailed all alone Across the wheat, while a liquid cry Dripped from above, as it went by. What to her was the far-off whir Of the quail's quick wing or the chipmunk's chirr? -- What to her was the shade that slid Over the hill where the reapers hid? -- Or what the hunter, with one foot raised, As he turned to go -- yet, pausing, gazed? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE EXHAUSTED BUG; FOR MY FATHER by ROBERT BLY PLASTIC BEATITUDE by LAURE-ANNE BOSSELAAR BEETLE LIGHT; FOR DANIEL HILLEN by MADELINE DEFREES CLEMATIS MONTANA by MADELINE DEFREES THOMAS MERTON AND THE WINTER MARSH by NORMAN DUBIE A BOY'S MOTHER by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY |
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