@3Not unto the forest — not unto the forest, O my lover! Why do you lead me to the forest?@1 Joy is where the temples are, lines of dancers swinging far, Drums and lyres and viols in the town (@3It is dark in the forest@1) And the flapping leaves will blind me and the clinging vines will bind me And the thorny rose-boughs tear my saffron gown — @3And I fear the forest. Not unto the forest — not unto the forest, O my lover! There was one once who led me to the forest:@1 Hand in hand we wandered mute, where was neither lyre nor flute, Little stars were bright against the dusk (@3There was wind in the forest@1) And the thicket of wild rose breathed across our lips locked close Dizzy perfumings of spikenard and musk . . . @3I am tired of the forest. Not unto the forest — not unto the forest, O my lover! Take me from the silence of the forest!@1 I will love you by the light and the beat of drums at night And echoing of laughter in my ears, @3But here in the forest@1 I am still, remembering a forgotten, useless thing, And my eyelids are locked down for fear of tears — @3There is memory in the forest@1. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CONTRA MORTEM: THE VILLAGE by HAYDEN CARRUTH FOR WALT WHITMAN by DAVID IGNATOW THE TEMPTRESS by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON DISMAL MOMENT PASSING by CLARENCE MAJOR TWO SONNETS: 1 by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON IN PICCADILLY by ISAAC ROSENBERG |