Classic and Contemporary Poetry
AFTERWARD, by MARY MCDERMOTT First Line: So now that the night has come, and the kindly stars Last Line: I awake from the dream of love, and am clean and whole. Subject(s): Night; Bedtime | ||||||||
So now that the night has come, and the kindly stars Are singing their ancient, silver song in the sky, You have gone, and the lake is quiet, and even I Have hushed the weeping that held me. The sudden bars Of the Northern Lights are green in the lake below, And a whip-poor-will calls -- oh, beloved! Oh, my still beloved, I am free again, for the force of the love that moved Me once, is gone as a wave that will rise and go. The ripples have broken the straight, strong line of the Lights That are mirrored, and even so did your leaving shake The strong and directed force that had moved my soul In the days before you had lifted me to the heights. But the battle is done, beloved. By the silent lake I awake from the dream of love, and am clean and whole. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE BREATH OF NIGHT by RANDALL JARRELL HOODED NIGHT by ROBINSON JEFFERS NIGHT WITHOUT SLEEP by ROBINSON JEFFERS WORKING OUTSIDE AT NIGHT by DENIS JOHNSON POEM TO TAKE BACK THE NIGHT by JUNE JORDAN COOL DARK ODE by DONALD JUSTICE POEM TO BE READ AT 3 A.M by DONALD JUSTICE ROUND ABOUT MIDNIGHT by BOB KAUFMAN |
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