Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

CANTILENA MUNDI by WILLIAM SHARP

First Line: WHERE THE RAINBOWS RISE THROUGH SUNSET RAINS
Last Line: "TO-MORROW ALL THE WORLD IS NOT."
Subject(s): ABSENCE; EARTH; PRESENCE; RAINBOWS; VOICES; SEPARATION; ISOLATION; WORLD;
Where the rainbows rise through sunset rains
By shores forlorn of isles forgot,
A solitary Voice complains
"The world is here, the world is not."

The Voice the Wind is, or the sea,
Or the Spirit of the sundown West:
Or is it but a breath set free
From off the Islands of the Blest?

It may be: but I turn my face
To that which still I hold so dear:
And lo, the voices of the days—
"The World is not, the World is here."

'Tis the same end whichever way,
And either way is soon forgot:
"The World is all in all To-day,
To-morrow all the World is not."



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