Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, VENETIAN NIGHT, by ARTHUR WILLIAM SYMONS


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VENETIAN NIGHT, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Her eyes in the darkness shone, in the twilight.
Last Line: I remember her silence, and, in the night, her smile.
Subject(s): Venice, Italy


Her eyes in the darkness shone, in the twilight shed
By the gondola bent like the darkness over her head.
Softly the gondola rocked, lights came and went;
A white glove shone as her black fan lifted and leant
Where the silk of her dress, the blue of a bittern's wing,
Rustled against my knee, and, murmuring
The sweet slow hesitant English of a child,
Her voice was articulate laughter, her soul smiled.
Softly the gondola rocked, lights came and went;
From the sleeping houses a shadow of slumber leant
Over our heads like a wing, and the dim lagoon,
Rustling with silence, slumbered under the moon.
Softly the gondola rocked, and a pale light came
Over the waters, mild as a silver flame;
She lay back, thrilling with smiles, in the twilight shed
By the gondola bent like the darkness over her head;
I saw her eyes shine subtly, then close awhile:
I remember her silence, and, in the night, her smile.





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