Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

GLAMOUR by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY

Poet Analysis

First Line: WAS IT IN THE MISTY TWILIGHT, OR
Last Line: MY FANCY, SLOWLY SLIPPING EARTHLY ANCHOR, SAILED AWAY?
Subject(s): DAY; DREAMS; EVENING; LOVE; NIGHTMARES; SUNSET; TWILIGHT;
WAS it in the misty twilight, or the midnight or the morning,
Or was it in the glare of noon, or dazzle of the day,
That, half asleep and half awake, and without word or warning,
My fancy, slowly slipping earthly anchor, sailed away?

O leave me and my lazy dream a little while together,
Blending each within the other as we waken in the dawn,
With languid lids anointed by the balmy summer weather
As it wells above the casement that our vision swoons upon!

Linger with me yet a little, O my lazy dream! nor leave me;
Though we hear the swallows twitter, it is only in their sleep:
And I want you just to cling to me and love me and deceive me
A little ere the morning when I waken but to weep.

Ah! dream of mine, I see you growing clearer yet and clearer;
Your fairy face comes back again from out the misty past,
And your smile shines on before you till, approaching ever nearer,
It gilds your grave into a glorious trysting-place at last.

And you lean there -- waiting for me -- here's the dainty rose-leaf letter
That you sent me, saying, "Meet me here, and share my deep delight,
For my love by this long silence is so truer, purer, better,
That you will taste of Heaven when you touch my lips to-night."

Was it in the misty twilight, or the midnight, or the morning,
Or was it in the glare of noon, or dazzle of the day,
That, half asleep and half awake, and without word or warning,
My fancy, slowly slipping earthly anchor, sailed away?



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