Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THAT NIGHT, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THAT NIGHT, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: You and I, and that night, with its perfume and glory
Last Line: My rival who found us, and waltzed you away.
Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F.
Subject(s): June; Love; Night; Violins; Bedtime


YOU and I, and that night, with its perfume and glory! --
The scent of the locusts -- the light of the moon;
And the violin weaving the waltzers a story,
Enmeshing their feet in the weft of the tune,
Till their shadows uncertain
Reeled round on the curtain,
While under the trellis we drank in the June.

Soaked through with the midnight the cedars were sleeping,
Their shadowy tresses outlined in the bright
Crystal, moon-smitten mists, where the fountain's heart, leaping
Forever, forever burst, full with delight;
And its lisp on my spirit
Fell faint as that near it
Whose love like a lily bloomed out in the night.

O your glove was an odorous sachet of blisses!
The breath of your fan was a breeze from Cathay!
And the rose at your throat was a nest of spilled kisses! --
And the music! -- in fancy I hear it to-day,
As I sit here, confessing
Our secret, and blessing
My rival who found us, and waltzed you away.





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