Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, AN HOUR, by HENRY VAN DYKE


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AN HOUR, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: You only promised me a single hour
Last Line: Where all the forms of time are like a dream.
Alternate Author Name(s): Civis Americanus
Subject(s): Dreams; Love; Time; Nightmares


YOU only promised me a single hour:
But in that hour I journeyed through a year
Of life: the joy of finding you, -- the fear
Of losing you again, -- the sense of power
To make you all my own, -- the sudden shower
Of tears that came because you were more dear
Than words could ever tell you, -- then, -- the clear
Soft rapture when I plucked love's crimson flower.

An hour, -- a year, -- I felt your bosom rise
And fall with mystic tides, and saw the gleam
Of undiscovered stars within your eyes, --
A year, -- an hour? I knew not, for the stream
Of love had carried me to Paradise,
Where all the forms of Time are like a dream.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


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