Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, AFTER GRIEF, by THOMAS WALSH


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AFTER GRIEF, by                    
First Line: At first when thou wert gone, thy memory
Last Line: The more my hope and singing, am I free.
Alternate Author Name(s): Gill, Roderick; Strange, Garrett
Subject(s): Love - Loss Of; Pain; Suffering; Misery


AT first when thou wert gone, thy memory
Bade song away from out my heart and thought;
But now the faintest echoings of thee
Unlock my soul to melodies unsought—
Strange floods of utmost rapture, utmost pain,
That hush in music but to wake again—
As though the earth grown fertile under sighs
Gave bloom unto some noontide of the skies.

Perchance 'twas silence came to weed the heart
Of selfish woes that choked its fount of songs?—
Perchance the scars of grief, now healing, part
Like lips to join with joy's seraphic throngs?—
Not for decline of pain, but for pure woe
Transcending flesh as bards and prophets know!
'Twas fear and silence held my soul in fee
The more my hope and singing, am I free.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


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