Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, NOCTURNE OF 1933, by ELIOT WHITE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

NOCTURNE OF 1933, by                    
First Line: West twenty-third street on a windy night
Last Line: "dear heaven! -- 'twas ""home sweet home"" the old man played!"
Subject(s): Homeless


West Twenty-third Street on a windy night;
At curb, a fiddler, with blown beard of white,
Who plied his plaintive bow with better cheer
At sight of lonely listener drawing near.
Almost a jig shrilled from the hopeful strings,
And stiff old elbows found some grace of wings.

A hearth aglow with ruddy flame should greet
The aged player, not this barren street;
Sweet children should be clustered round his knees
Beseeching bedtime tunes -- "Ah, Grandpa, please!" --
And to their smiles his merry violin
Would seem to bring the dancing fairies in.
Too soon the vision fades, and firelight dies,
Surrendering to the cold realities
Of wind and midnight, where the shelterless
Must plead with passerby in hunger's stress.

His thanks for coin dropped in his dangling cup
Were followed by fresh tune his bow took up
That seemed to make the shivering street afraid --
Dear Heaven! -- 'twas "Home Sweet Home" the old man played!





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