When the light of day declineth, And a swift angel through the sky Kindleth God's tapers clear, With ashen staff the lamplighter Passeth along the darkling streets To light our earthly lamps; Lest, prowling in the darkness, The thief should haunt with quiet tread, Or men on evil errands set; Or wayfarers be benighted; Or neighbours bent from house to house Should need a guiding torch. He is like a needlewoman Who deftly on a sable hem Stitches in gleaming jewels; Or, haply, he is like a hero, Whose bright deeds on the long journey Are beacons on our way. And when in the East cometh morning, And the broad splendour of the sun, Then, with the tune of little birds Ringing on high, the lamplighter Passeth by each quiet house, And putteth out the lamps. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE SONNET: 54 by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE A COMPARISON OF THE LIFE OF MAN by RICHARD BARNFIELD TEMPORALL SUCCESS by JOSEPH BEAUMONT EMPORIUM VERSUS NEW YORK, 1854 by JACOB BIGELOW IN WILTSHIRE; SUGGESTED BY POINTS OF SIMILARITY WITH THE SOMME COUNTRY by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN |