Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ON THE DEATH OF A YOUNG GIRL, by NATHANIEL PARKER WILLIS Poet's Biography First Line: Tis difficult to feel that she is dead Last Line: In its most ravishing sweetness rudely broken. Subject(s): Death - Children; Death - Babies | ||||||||
'TIS difficult to feel that she is dead. Her presence, like the shadow of a wing That is just lessening in the upper sky, Lingers upon us. We can hear her voice, And for her step we listen, and the eye Looks for her wonted coming with a strange, Forgetful earnestness. We cannot feel That she will no more come -- that from her cheek The delicate flush has faded, and the light Dead in her soft dark eye, and on her lip, That was so exquisitely pure, the dew Of the damp grave has fallen! Who so loved, Is left among the living? Who hath walk'd The world with such a winning loveliness, And on its bright brief journey gather'd up Such treasures of affection? She was loved Only as idols are. She was the pride Of her familiar sphere -- the daily joy Of all who on her gracefulness might gaze, And in the light and music of her way, Have a companion's portion. Who could feel, While looking upon beauty such as hers, That it would ever perish? It is like The melting of a star into the sky While you are gazing on it, or a dream In its most ravishing sweetness rudely broken. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE LOST CHILDREN by RANDALL JARRELL THE MOURNER by LOUISE MOREY BOWMAN MELANCHOLY; AN ODE by WILLIAM BROOME SISTERS IN ARMS by AUDRE LORDE A BOTANICAL TROPE by WILLIAM MEREDITH FOR MOHAMMED ZEID OF GAZA, AGE 15 by NAOMI SHIHAB NYE ANDRE'S LAST REQUEST [OR, REQUEST TO WASHINGTON] [OCTOBER 1, 1780] by NATHANIEL PARKER WILLIS |
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