Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, FLAME, by ELIZABETH GREENE STREATER


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

FLAME, by                    
First Line: At midnight I awoke from tranquil sleeping
Last Line: When beauty, love, and life can never burn?
Subject(s): Fire


At midnight I awoke from tranquil sleeping,
Discordant voices roused the somnolent air;
Grotesque and crooked forms were sprawling, creeping --
Over the room, the windows, everywhere;
While stars and moon by scarlet Flame were hidden --
A monster who devoured my treasure and home --
An ogre, hated, feared, always unbidden,
Whispered, "Nothing is left to you but loam!"

"Monster -- the best you can never consume,
Though roof and walls are charred and timber crashes;
Up from blackened soil the flowers can bloom,
And hope will rise from gray and crumbling ashes."
Should my spirit mourn or with longing yearn
When Beauty, Love, and Life can never burn?





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