I PLACED the first wild wonder in her eyes, The first high word upon her lips; I led Her footsteps out beyond these living dead Who never trembled at the dawn's surprise. I girt her with the proverbs of the wise, And roused within her bosom all the gods. And then she fled me for the village clods, And on one clumsy bosom now she lies. I move in sorrow, comrade of the sun, Who gilds the rose and sees its color fade, To feed the first mad wind that Aura brings. And grief is mine as Heaven grieved for one Who plunged to blackness, and, amid that shade, Lures the lost angels with his godlike wings. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONG OF TWO CROWS by HAYDEN CARRUTH EVERYBODY KNOWS by DAVID IGNATOW DESIRE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE PASSING OF THE EX-SLAVE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE WILLOW by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON TO WILLIAM STANLEY BRAITHWAITE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE REWARD by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON IRELAND; WRITTEN FOR THE ART AUTOGRAPH DURING IRISH FAMINE by SIDNEY LANIER |