The cold earth slept below, Above the cold sky shone; And all around with a chilling sound, From caves of ice and fields of snow The breath of night like death did flow Beneath the sinking moon. The wintry hedge was black, The green grass was not seen, The birds did rest on the bare thorn's breast, Whose roots, beside the pathway track, Had bound their folds o'er many a crack Which the frost had made between. Thine eyes glowed in the glare Of the moon's dying light; As a fen-fire's beam on a sluggish stream Gleams dimly, so the moon shone there. And it yellowed the strings of thy raven hair, That shook in the wind of night. The moon made thy lips pale, beloved -- The wind made thy bosom chill -- The night did shed on thy dear head Its frozen dew, and thou didst lie Where the bitter breath of the naked sky Might visit thee at will. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...EPISODE OF HANDS by HAROLD HART CRANE TENEBRIS by ANGELINA WELD GRIMKE THE OWL AND THE PUSSY CAT by EDWARD LEAR TRAMP, TRAMP, TRAMP by GEORGE FREDERICK ROOT MYSTERY: 1 by ANNE MILLAY BREMER CHRISTMAS ROSE by THOMAS EDWARD BROWN CALYPSO by AMELIA JOSEPHINE BURR TO WILL D'AVENANT, MY FRIEND, UPON HIS POEM, 'MADAGASCAR' by THOMAS CAREW |