Classic and Contemporary Poetry
MOONRISE ON THE VENETIAN LAGOONS, by WILLIAM SHARP Poet's Biography First Line: A more than twilight darkness dwells Last Line: Each droplet with a small moon flee. Alternate Author Name(s): Macleod, Fiona Subject(s): Lagoons; Moon | ||||||||
A more than twilight darkness dwells Upon the long lagoons: the bells Of distant Venice come and go Like sounds in dreams; the tide's soft flow Sweeps onward, and a wandering gull Flit o'er the track of yon black hull Just fading in the gloom -- no more I see or hear 'tween shore and shore But as I lie and dreamily Watch the dark water from the sea Slip past the boat, in its blurred sky I see the crescent moon on high Casting curv'd golden flakes far down Amidst the calm lagoon -- a crown Broken innumerably up, The gold bands of a broken cup. I take an oar and make a rift In the soft tide of the lagoons, -- And lo, the blade itself doth lift A score of quivering crescent moons, And as they flash I seem to see Each droplet with a small moon flee. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...POEM TO TAKE BACK THE NIGHT by JUNE JORDAN THE MOON AND THE SPECTATOR by LEONIE ADAMS FULL MOON by KARLE WILSON BAKER NO MORE OF THE MOON by MORRIS GILBERT BISHOP THE DEPARTURE by DENISE LEVERTOV |
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