Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS, by JOHN COWPER POWYS Poet's Biography First Line: In a long sad row the old gods come Last Line: Lie scattered in the sand! Subject(s): Babylon; Death; Goddesses & Gods; Grief; Mythology; Wind; Dead, The; Sorrow; Sadness | ||||||||
In a long sad row the old gods come; They come and bow to me. Like candle-flames in a raftered room, Like trees in an avenue of doom, They bend in unity. And a sound comes from them, a terrible sound, Like the wind in a tamarisk grove, Or a howl from some treacherous marshy ground Where the swamp-demons move. And in that moan is the cracking of sticks Where Behemoth stalks thro' the trees; And in that moan is the flame that licks The knees of Rameses: And in that moan rocks Nineveh With her golden roofs and floors! And in that moan quakes Babylon With her columned corridors! From my little green seat of piled-up sods Like a dwarf on a churchyard mound I watch that row of bowing Gods And I hear that terrible sound. They nod and mutter; they sway and bend Like monoliths of stone, Like huge gaunt birds on a branches' end, And as they bend they moan. They shiver like monstrous skeleton leaves; They rattle like gibbets stark; They reel like ruined autumn sheaves In the stubble of the dark. Their eye-sockets are hollow and deep; Their foreheads are cliffs of doom; And they bleat at me like gigantic sheep That are herded in a tomb. And very slowly I lift my head -- And slowly I lift my hand -- And a row of horny beetles dead Lie scattered in the sand! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONOMA FIRE by JANE HIRSHFIELD AS THE SPARKS FLY UPWARDS by JOHN HOLLANDER WHAT GREAT GRIEF HAS MADE THE EMPRESS MUTE by JUNE JORDAN CHAMBER MUSIC: 19 by JAMES JOYCE DIRGE AT THE END OF THE WOODS by LEONIE ADAMS |
|