Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE OWL (2) by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE

Poet Analysis

First Line: WHAT IF TO EDGE OF DREAM
Last Line: TO SHATTER ITS DREAM?
Subject(s): BIRDS; OWLS;
What if to edge of dream,
When the spirit is come,
Shriek the hunting owl,
And summon it home --
To the fear-stirred heart
And the ancient dread
Of man, when cold root or stone
Pillowed roofless head?

Clangs not at last the hour
When roof shelters not;
And the ears are deaf,
And all fears forgot:
Since the spirit too far has fared
For summoning scream
Of any strange fowl on earth
To shatter its dream?



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