Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


DEBT by JOHN ORLEY ALLEN TATE

Poet Analysis

First Line: A WITHERED SILENCE FILLED MY CHEST OF SORROW
Last Line: FLEECED I THE GIVER, YET AM PENNILESS.
Subject(s): RELATIONSHIPS;

A withered silence filled my chest of sorrow
With mildewed fancies till she cam to me;
My world she made of laughter and tomorrow --
A lonely sail that gemmed a wasted sea.
Her wisdom was a spendthrift, lavishing
On me a costly cloak of fertile power;
She led me up a steep path to the spring
To taste eternity, bubbling in an hour.
But I forgot the equipage I wore,
The magic sifted whiteness of her mind
Coloring life; vaunted is burgeoned lore
Of riches taken, leaving a debt behind.
From her I got but gave no wealthiness:
Fleeced I the giver, yet am penniless.



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