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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
PENTECOST, by ANNETTE ELISABETH VON DROSTE-HULSHOFF First Line: The day was still, the sun's bright glare Last Line: Which weeps and wakes. Alternate Author Name(s): Droste-hulshoff, Annette Von | |||
THE day was still, the sun's bright glare Fell sheer upon the Temple's beauteous wall Withered by tropic heat, the air Let, like a bird, its listless pinions fall. Behold a group, young men and gray, And women, kneeling; silence holds them all; They mutely pray! Where is the faithful Comforter Whom, parting, Thou didst promise to Thine own? They trust Thy word which cannot err, But sad and full of fear the time has grown. The hour draws nigh; for forty days And forty wakeful nights toward Thee we've thrown Our weeping gaze. Where is He? Hour on hour dost steal, And minute after minute swells the doubt. Where doth He bide? And though a seal Be on the mouth, the soul must yet speak out. Hot winds blow, in the sandy lake The panting tiger moans and rolls about, Parched is the snake. But hark! a murmur rises now, Swelling and swelling like a storm's advance, Yet standing grass-blades do not bow, And the still palm-tree listens in a trance. Why seem these men to quake with fear While each on other casts a wondering glance? Behold! 'Tis here! 'Tis here, 'tis here! the quivering light Rests on each head; what floods of ecstasy Throng in our veins with wondrous might! The future dawns; the flood-gates open free; Resistless pours the mighty Word; Now as a herald's call, now whisperingly, Its tone is heard. Oh Light, oh Comforter, but there Alas! and but to them art Thou revealed And not to us, not everywhere Where drooping souls for comfort have appealed? I yearn for day that never breaks; Oh shine, before this eye is wholly sealed, Which weeps and wakes. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE BOY ON THE MOOR by ANNETTE ELISABETH VON DROSTE-HULSHOFF THE DESOLATE HOUSE by ANNETTE ELISABETH VON DROSTE-HULSHOFF THE HOUSE IN THE HEATH by ANNETTE ELISABETH VON DROSTE-HULSHOFF CHAMBER MUSIC: 9 by JAMES JOYCE SPRING WIND IN LONDON by KATHERINE MANSFIELD INSCRIPTION FOR THE ENTRANCE TO A WOOD by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT |
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