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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ON THE ECLIPSE OF THE MOON OF OCTOBER 1865 by CHARLES TENNYSON TURNER

First Line: ONE LITTLE NOISE OF LIFE REMAINED - I HEARD
Last Line: SO PERFECT WAS THE SILENCE NATURE KEPT.
Subject(s): ECLIPSES;

One little noise of life remained - I heard
The train pause in the distance, then rush by,
Brawling and hushing, like some busy fly
That murmurs and then settles; nothing stirred
Beside. The shadow of our travelling earth
Hung on the silver moon, which mutely went
Through that grand process, without token sent,
Or any sign to call a gazer forth,
Had I not chanced to see; dumb was the vault
Of heaven, and dumb the fields - no zephyr swept
The forest walks, or through the coppice crept;
Nor other sound the stillness did assault,
Save that faint-brawling railway's move and halt;
So perfect was the silence Nature kept.



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