Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

FOUR SONNETS: 1 by FRANK DAVIS ASHBURN

First Line: A HUNDRED YEARS AGO THE CHURCH BELLS SPOKE
Last Line: AN OLD MAN DIED AND A YOUNG CHILD WAS BORN.
Subject(s): DEATH; LIFE; DEAD, THE;
A hundred years ago the church bells spoke
Resonant through the sleeping market place.
The drowsy little village stirred and woke
To the ancient beauty of the commonplace.
The chimneys smoked, the morning tasks were taken
Lads awoke jubilant to breathe the name
Of a dear unnamed one, with her hair downshaken,
Sighing to pass the hours till evening came.

And in the evening sat the older folks
To talk of how the young world took to sin.
Down at the corner old men changed old jokes
And thought the stage was late getting in.
The stars came out, the cool earth whirled to morn,
An old man died and a young child was born.



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