North And South
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
Of the North I wove a dream,
All bespangled with the gleam
Of the glancing wings of swallows
Dipping ripples in a stream,
That, like a tide of wine,
Wound through lands of shade and shine
Where purple grapes hung bursting on the vine.
And where orchard-boughs were bent
Till their tawny fruitage blent
With the golden wake that marked the
Way the happy reapers went;
Where the dawn died into noon
As the May-mists into June,
And the dusk fell like a sweet face in a swoon.
Of the South I dreamed: And there
Came a vision clear and fair
As the marvelous enchantments
Of the mirage of the air;
And I saw the bayou-trees,
With their lavish draperies,
Hang heavy o'er the moon-washed cypress-knees.
Peering from lush fens of rice,
I beheld the Negro's eyes,
Lit with that old superstition
Death itself can not disguise;
And I saw the palm tree nod
Like an oriental god,
And the cotton froth and bubble from the pod,
And I dreamed that North and South,
With a sigh of dew and drouth,
Blew each unto the other
The salute of lip and mouth;
And I wakened, awed and thrilled--
Every doubting murmur stilled
In the silence of the dream I found fulfilled.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:04 min read
- 71 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AABACCC DDEDFFF GGBGHHH XIXIJJJ KEXKLLL |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,118 |
Words | 213 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 7, 7, 7, 7 |
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"North And South" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/20984/north-and-south>.
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