The lifting of the mist



All the long day the vapours played
 At blindfold in the city streets,
Their elfin fingers caught and stayed
 The sunbeams, as they wound their sheets
Into a filmy barricade
 'Twixt earth and where the sunlight beats.

A vagrant band of mischiefs these,
 With wings of grey and cobweb gown;
They live along the edge of seas,
 And creeping out on foot of down,
They chase and frolic, frisk and tease
 At blind-man's buff with all the town.

And when at eventide the sun
 Breaks with a glory through their grey,
The vapour-fairies, one by one,
Outspread their wings and float away
In clouds of colouring, that run
 Wine-like along the rim of day.

Athwart the beauty and the breast
 Of purpling airs they twirl and twist,
Then float away to some far rest,
 Leaving the skies all colour-kiss't--
A glorious and a golden West
 That greets the Lifting of the Mist.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

46 sec read
82

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABAB CDCDCD EFEFEF GHGXGH
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 864
Words 154
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6

Emily Pauline Johnson

Emily Pauline Johnson Tekahionwake commonly known as E Pauline Johnson or just Pauline Johnson was a Canadian writer and performer popular in the late 19th century Pauline Johnson was notable for her poems and performances that celebrated her aboriginal heritage One such poem is the frequently anthologized The Song My Paddle Sings Her poetry was published in Canada the United States and Great Britain Johnson was one of a generation of widely read writers who began to define a Canadian national literature more…

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