Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, BEFORE AND AFTER SUMMER, by THOMAS HARDY


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

BEFORE AND AFTER SUMMER, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Looking forward to the spring
Last Line: I, alas, perceived not when.
Subject(s): Autumn; Seasons; Spring; Fall


I

LOOKING forward to the spring
One puts up with anything.
On this February day
Though the winds leap down the street
Wintry scourgings seem but play,
And these later shafts of sleet
- Sharper pointed than the first -
And these later snows - the worst -
Are as a half-transparent blind
Riddled by rays from sun behind.

II

Shadows of the October pine
Reach into this room of mine:
On the pine there swings a bird;
He is shadowed with the tree.
Mutely perched he bills no word;
Blank as I am even is he.
For those happy suns are past,
Fore-discerned in winter last.
When went by their pleasure, then?
I, alas, perceived not when.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net