Day is dying

George Eliot 1819 (Nuneaton, Warwickshire) – 1880 (Chelsea, London)



Day is dying! Float, o song,
Down the westward river,
Requiem chanting to the Day,
Day, the mighty giver!

Pierced by shafts of Time he bleeds,
Melted rubies sending
Through the river and the sky,
Earth and heaven blending.

All the long-drawn earthy banks
Up to cloudland lifting:
Slow between them drifts the swan
'Twixt two heavens drifting,

Wings half open like a flower.
In by deeper flushing,
Neck and breast as virgin's pure
Virgin proudly blushing.

Day is dying! Float, o swan,
Down the ruby river,
Follow, song, in requiem
To the mighty Giver!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 21, 2023

29 sec read
253

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAXA XBXB XBCB ABXB CAXA
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 539
Words 97
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

George Eliot

Mary Anne Evans, better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. more…

All George Eliot poems | George Eliot Books

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