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 | The poems of Madison Cawein |  |
35
THE WOMAN BY THE WATER
She stands within the stormy glow
Of sunset, with a face of snow,
The white embodiment of woe,
As night comes on:
Of sunset, with a face of snow,
The white embodiment of woe,
As night comes on:
She stands within the sombre glare
Of dusk, with dark neglected hair,
An apparition of despair,
When day is gone.
Of dusk, with dark neglected hair,
An apparition of despair,
When day is gone.
The haggard house within the vale
Looks spectral as a ragged sail
The Dutchman hoists against the gale
On haunted seas:
Looks spectral as a ragged sail
The Dutchman hoists against the gale
On haunted seas:
And in the garden,—one vast brake
Of dock and thistle,—snail and snake
Crawl; and the death-watch taps, awake
In rotting trees.
Of dock and thistle,—snail and snake
Crawl; and the death-watch taps, awake
In rotting trees.
36
The stagnant stream along the night
Creeps, like a nightmare, where each white
Lily is an uneasy light,
A wisp up-tossed:
Creeps, like a nightmare, where each white
Lily is an uneasy light,
A wisp up-tossed:
And through the cypress-trees and vines
The gray fox skulks and laps and whines;
The owl hoots; and the foxfire shines
In darkness lost.
The gray fox skulks and laps and whines;
The owl hoots; and the foxfire shines
In darkness lost.
She stands beside the stagnant stream;
Her garments drip at every seam;
She looks a shadow in a dream
Of dread and woe:
Her garments drip at every seam;
She looks a shadow in a dream
Of dread and woe:
No star stares half so steadily
At earth as at the water she;
And what she sees there—it may be
The owlets know.
At earth as at the water she;
And what she sees there—it may be
The owlets know.
| The poems of Madison Cawein | |