Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

DUSK: ASSUAN by WILLIAM ALEXANDER PERCY

First Line: SERENE, HE MOUNTS THE MINARET OF DAY
Last Line: BUT FAITHFUL COME THOSE WORSHIPERS, THE STARS.
Subject(s): BIRDS; DUSK; SILENCE;
Serene, he mounts the minaret of day;
Where purple spreads the world his footsteps pause.
Splendors from whence he rose still flame his grey
And amethystine robes to golden gauze.
Priestly and pure, he stands within the curve
Precipitous that fronts the chasmed west.
The blowing birds that wove his hem in swerve
And arabesque of jet, flicker to rest.
And now his voice, a tide of silence, pours
Across the desert's pallor and the palms:
"Come forth to God from all your darkened doors."
Who pause for prayer? Partake the sacred calms?
Pass and repass the women with their jars;
But faithful come those worshipers, the stars.



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