Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE MESSENGER by ALFRED NOYES

Poet Analysis

First Line: AND, IN THE NIGHT, THE SPIRIT CAME
Last Line: AND I FORGOT, AND WEPT.

And, in the night, the Spirit came
And softly smiled, and said --
@3I am the messenger of God.
I am the happy dead.

I cannot tell you what I see
Or whisper what I know;
But through and through your three-walled sleep
Our shining legions go.@1

@3From worlds outside your Time and Space
(You cannot know how near)
You cannot see the happy face
That bends above you, dear.

I cannot grieve to see your grief
More than a mother may
Who stoops above her child to soothe
Its midnight fears away.

I have been near you all the while,
I watched you, while you slept --@1
Then morning broke, then morning broke,
And I forgot, and wept.



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