Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, PRELUDE, by NEIL TRACY


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

PRELUDE, by                    
First Line: A thing long sought
Last Line: With a thing long sought.
Subject(s): Death; Faith; Relationships; Youth; Dead, The; Belief; Creed


A thing long sought:
Something long held, and lately lost;
Sold for a song, but for a passion bought.

What did its losing cost?
One soul's death, another's shame;
I walk with a ghost; she plays a game.

Nothing shall turn
To dust save Beauty and Youth;
Gold and gems and words do not burn;
Not an oath shall move;
No truth of your swearing shall feed the flame:
I shall keep your vows in a golden urn.

Have I cried in my youth for death?
Did I call upon life for surcease?
They say so and lie, in the heat of their breath.

No: I planted a seed in the ashes of faith,
A germ in the track of the fire:
A thing that shall feed on your peace,
That shall cling like moss to the bones of Desire;
And the brightness of it shall trouble your sleep,
And the beauty of it shall cause you to weep;
Till you call to me from your bed, over the years and the lands.
I shall come with my urn in my hands,
To mend our vows over the wreck of the feast,
Over the corpse of the beast;
With a thing long sought.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net