Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


A DREAM OF INSPIRATION by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY

Poet Analysis

First Line: TO LOLL BACK, IN A MISTY HAMMOCK, SWUNG
Last Line: SAVE FANCY'S HINTED CHIME OF UNKNOWN SEAS.
Subject(s): CREATIVE ABILITY; DREAMS; HAMMOCKS; WIND; INSPIRATION; CREATIVITY; NIGHTMARES;

TO loll back, in a misty hammock, swung
From tip to tip of a slim crescent moon
That gems some royal-purple night of June --
To dream of songs that never have been sung
Since the first stars were stilled and God was young
And Heaven as lonesome as a lonesome tune:
To lie thus, lost to earth, with lids aswoon;
By curious, cool winds back and forward flung,
With fluttering hair, blurred eyes, and utter ease
Adrift like lazy blood through every vein;
And then, -- the pulse of unvoiced melodies
Timing the raptured sense to some refrain
That knows nor words, nor rhymes, nor euphonies,
Save Fancy's hinted chime of unknown seas.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net