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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
GIVEN OVER, by THOMAS WOOLNER Poet's Biography First Line: The men of learning say she must Last Line: Our island gorgon's face has changed me into stone. | |||
THE men of learning say she must Soon pass, and be as if she had not been. To gratify the barren lust Of Death, the roses in her cheeks are seen To blush so brightly, blooming deeper damascene. All hope and doubt, all fears, are vain: The dreams I nurs'd of honoring her are past, And will not comfort me again. I see a lurid sunlight throw its last Wild gleam athwart the land whose shadows lengthen fast. It does not seem so dreadful now, The horror stands out naked, stark, and still; I am quite calm, and wonder how My terror play'd such mad pranks with my will. The north winds fiercely blow, I do not feel them chill. All things must die: somewhere I read What wise and solemn men pronounce of joy; No sooner born, they say, than dead; The strife of being, but a whirling toy Humming a weary moan spun by capricious boy. Has my soul reach'd a starry height Majestically calm? No monster, drear And shapeless, glares me faint at night; I am not in the sunshine check'd for fear That monstrous, shapeless thing is somewhere crouching near? No; woe is me! far otherwise: The naked horror numbs me to the bone; In stupor calm its cold, blank eyes Set hard at mine. I do not fall or groan, Our island Gorgon's face has changed me into stone. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE GULF by KATHERINE MANSFIELD ON THIS DAY I COMPLETE MY THIRTY-SIXTH YEAR by GEORGE GORDON BYRON AN INDIGNATION DINNER by JAMES DAVID CORROTHERS THE TWO TREES by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS ACROSS THE STREET by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH LINES ON THE COTTAGE AT THE FOOT OF BOX HILL, SURREY by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD A MOUNTAIN SOUL (KATHARINE COMAN) by KATHARINE LEE BATES |
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