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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


TWELVE SONGS: 4 by WYSTAN HUGH AUDEN

Poem Explanation Poet Analysis

First Line: DEAR, THOUGH THE NIGHT IS GONE
Last Line: UNWANTED AND WENT OUT

Dear, though the night is gone.
Its dream still haunts today.
That brought us to a room
Cavernous, lofty as
A railway terminus.
And crowded in that gloom
Were beds, and we in one
In a far corner lay.


Our whisper woke no clocks.
We kissed and I was glad
At everything you did.
Indifferent to those
Who sat with hostile eyes
In pairs on every bed.
Arms round each other's neck.
Inert and vaguely sad.


O but what worm of guilt
Or what malignant doubt
Am I the victim of.
That you then, unabashed.
Did what I never wished.
Confessed another love;
And I, submissive, felt
Unwanted and went out?



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