For us the shelter of the Day, Curtained with colored light; In this brave tent we sulk and sing -- (Achilles safe from fight). In golden folds we hide from Sight, Consoled with many a grace, Till the great Shield goes clashing down, Till canopies of gold are down, And Night, the foe of refuge, Betrays us into Space. But she, perpetually betrayed, Beyond our gilded bars, Her soul is the adventuress Night, Uncoverer of stars. But she, Familiar of the Night, Habituate of Awe, In noble darkness sits at gaze Where no man ever saw. Orphan of Sound and thrall of Still, Where man can never tell She holds the Void against her ear Like a sounding shell. And never succored by the Day, Never by Day forsook, She tends upon the wheeling God With long sidereal look. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE MOTHER'S HOPE by SAMUEL LAMAN BLANCHARD THE BRAVE OLD OAK by HENRY FOTHERGILL CHORLEY HYMN TO THE NIGHT by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW SONNET: 45 by EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY THE CONTRAST; THE SUNNY SIDE by LEVI BISHOP |