[1024] Faint Music

The meteor's arc of quiet; a voiceless rain;
The mist's mute communing with a stagnant moat;
The sigh of a flower that has neglected lain;
     That bell's unuttered note;

A hidden self rebels, its slumber broken;
Love secret as crystal forms within the womb;
The heart may as faithfully beat, the vow unspoken;
     All sounds to silence come.

	-- Walter de la Mare

All good poetry is magical in some way, but de la Mare's poems have a
_specific_ kind of magic, instantly recognizable, yet near impossible to
paraphrase or even parody. Certainly the precise blend of delicate phrasing
and carefully-chosen subject material that characterizes his art may strike
one as repetitive [1], but as long as it works (and work it does, most of
the time), who am I to cavil?

thomas.

[1] I'm not sure I could read an entire volume of de la Mare's poetry
uninterrupted, but I do enjoy dipping into his work every now and then.

[Minstrels Links]

Walter de la Mare:
Poem #2, The Listeners
Poem #272, Napoleon
Poem #483, Brueghel's Winter
Poem #725, Silver
Poem #1023, Faint Music

From: "David Wright" <David.Wright@>

Yes, oh yes, de la Mare is one of those great poets to pull down off the
shelf and read aloud for a little while, to have your innards massaged
with words.  Dylan Thomas, Wm. Shakespeare - the plays, some of Milton,
GM Hopkins, all great for that vocal physicality.  Yes!

David Wright