Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, IN MEMORIAM: STEPHANE MALLARME, by FRANCIS VIELE-GRIFFIN


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IN MEMORIAM: STEPHANE MALLARME, by             Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: If they said to you: 'master!'
Last Line: To utter words—against the tomb.
Subject(s): Mallarme, Stephane (1842-1898)


Threnody

If they said to you: "Master!
The day is breaking;
Here is another dawn, yet the same, pale;
Master, I have opened the window, the hillside is gleaming;
Dawn is lifting the eastern veil:
The day is waking!"
—I think I should hear you say, "I am dreaming."

If they said to you: "Master, we are here,
Vital and strong,
Here at your door as at evensong;
We have come laughing, looking ahead
To the smile and the handclasp strong;"
—They would answer, "The master is dead."

Flowers of my garden round,
Flowers like the leaves of a book,
Flowers, why? ... Look!
Here is a little of us, the low sound
That turns and falls—
As these flowers fall and turn;
This is the wrath of life, and the gloom,
To utter words—against the tomb.





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