Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE DEVIL, by JAMES STEPHENS



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE DEVIL, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I think the stars do nod at me!
Last Line: Where you nod upon the sky!
Subject(s): Devil; Satan; Mephistopheles; Lucifer; Beelzebub


(1)

I think the stars do nod at me!
But not when people are about;
For they regard me curiously
Whenever I go out.

I may have been a star one day,
A rebel of the host that fell,
And they are nodding down to say,
-- Come back to us from hell --

Perhaps they shout to one another
-- There He is! Oh, that is He! --
And tell it to some other mother
Than the one that walloped me.

(2)

Brothers! What is it ye mean!
What is it ye strive to say?
That so urgently ye lean
From the spirit to the clay!

If ye mean revolt! If ye
Raise the standard! Do not seek
Help or heartening from me!
I am powerless, am weak,

Am clipped of wing! The crown of old
Would not fit me now! My rage
Is as dreadful as the scold
Of a linnet in a cage!

(3)

O, my dears! I'm nodding, too!
Hard as ever I can try!
Up, and up, and up, to you,
Where you nod upon the sky!





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