Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


OUT OF THE DARK AND THE DEARTH by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY

Poet Analysis

First Line: HO! BUT THE DARKNESS WAS DENSELY
Last Line: AND THAT WAS THE DAWN -- THE DAWN!
Subject(s): DAWN; EARTH; NIGHT; SUNRISE; WORLD; BEDTIME;

HO! but the darkness was densely black!
And young feet faltered and groped their way,
With never the gleam of a star, alack!
Nor a moonbeam's lamest ray! --
Blind of light as the blind of sight. --
And that was the night -- the night!

And out of the blackness, vague and vast,
And out of the dark and the dearth, behold! --
A great ripe radiance grew at last
And burst like a bubble of gold,
Gilding the way that the feet danced on. --
And that was the dawn -- The Dawn!



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