Classic and Contemporary Poetry
JOHN JONES: 2. BY THE CLIFF, by ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Is it daytime (guess Last Line: Shut the book. Subject(s): Day; Soul | ||||||||
I. Is it daytime (guess), You that feed my soul To excess With that light in those eyes And those curls drawn like a scroll In that round grave guise? No or yes? II. Oh, the end, I'd say! Such a foolish thing (Pure girls' play!) As a mere mute heart, Was it worth a kiss, a ring, This? for two must part -- Not to-day. III. Look, the whole sand crawls, Hums, a heaving hive, Scrapes and scrawls -- Such a buzz and burst! Here just one thing's not alive, One that was at first -- But life palls. IV. Yes, my heart, I know, Just my heart's stone dead -- Yes, just so. Sick with heat, those worms Drop down scorched and overfed -- No more need of germs! Let them go. V. Yes, but you now, look, You, the rouged stage female With a crook, Chalked Arcadian sham, You that made my soul's sleep's dream ail -- Your soul fit to damn? Shut the book. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE CRUEL FALCON by ROBINSON JEFFERS THE WHOLE SOUL by PHILIP LEVINE I KNOW MY SOUL by CLAUDE MCKAY HONORING THE SAND; IN MEMORY OF JOSEPH CAMPBELL by ROBERT BLY THE CHINESE PEAKS; FOR DONALD HALL by ROBERT BLY THE LIFE OF TOWNS: TOWN OF THE EXHUMATION by ANNE CARSON A BALLAD OF DEATH by ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE |
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