George Eliot: Day is dying

George Eliot

(Mary Ann Evans, 1819 – 1880)

 

Day is dying

 

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!

 

George Eliot poetry

kempis.nl poetry magazine

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