Classic and Contemporary Poetry
PRESQUE ISLE, by BENJAMIN FRANKLIN KING Poet's Biography First Line: How well I remember the day that I spent Last Line: And pray for an earthquake to sink the presque isle. Alternate Author Name(s): King, Ben Subject(s): Disasters; Earthquakes; Islands; Prayer | ||||||||
HOW well I remember the day that I spent On that far away island where all is content; When sweet from the woodland, 'midst bramble and brake, The birds caroled on -- it seemed just for our sake, Oh, where on this orb is a spot that we feel The rapture of loving as on the Presque Isle? I laved in her looks and I bathed in her smiles, Nor thought of the nook where the serpent beguiles; I watched the calm glow of her passionate cheek, As in maidenhood only those blushes can speak. How I ardently knelt at her feet to reveal The love that was born far away on Presque Isle. When the stars had come out in the clear northern skies They but beamed on my soul, ah! less bright than her eyes, And I turned in despair from the orbs up above To gaze in the eyes of an angel of love. Our lips met, oh! why should we longer conceal Our love on that rapturous, star-lit Presque Isle? I'm still looking back on that island to-day, But my lips they are mute -- I have nothing to say, Except that my soul I claim as my own, Tho' my soft auburn hair is all scatter'd and strown. And after each cyclone in silence I kneel And pray for an earthquake to sink the Presque Isle. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...UNHOLY SONNET 11 by MARK JARMAN LISTEN, LORD: A PRAYER by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON A PRAYER FOR THE FUTURE by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) DIFFERENT WAYS TO PRAY by NAOMI SHIHAB NYE PRAYER DURING A TIME MY SON IS HAVING SEIZURES by SHARON OLDS WE WHO PRAYED AND WEPT by WENDELL BERRY PRAYERS AND SAYINGS OF THE MAD FARMER by WENDELL BERRY THE PESSIMIST by BENJAMIN FRANKLIN KING |
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