Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TSCHAIKOWSKY, by VIRGINIA WALLACE RUNYON


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TSCHAIKOWSKY, by                    
First Line: These things were his: the shuddering night wind
Last Line: He found at last a triumph in despair.
Subject(s): Music & Musicians; Tchaikovsky, Pytor Ilich (1840-1893); Tschaikovsky, Pytor Ilich


(Pathetic Symphony, Final Movement Adagio Lamentoso)

These things were his: the shuddering night wind,
The slow descent of brown and hopeless leaves
Through circling lanes of autumn air, frost-thinned,
Toward Earth, impassive breast which never grieves.
Let other restless titans flaunt their powers
And chant the miracles of upward flight,
Forging their deathless sky-assaulting towers
On knife-thin pinnacles of breathless light!
Alone he trod the last, most desperate league
And still pressed forward. Knowing hope was gone,
He dared explore night's ultimate intrigue,
To face the East and yet deny the dawn.
And groping downward on life's tragic stair,
He found at last a triumph in despair.





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