Author: Madison Julius Cawein

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    Can I forget how, when you stood
     'Mid orchards whence spring bloom had fled,
    Stars made the orchards seem a-bud,
     And weighed the sighing boughs o'erhead
     With shining ghosts of blossoms dead!

    Or when you bowed, a lily tall,
     Above your August lilies slim,
    Transparent pale, that by the wall
     Like softest moonlight seemed to swim,
     Brimmed with faint fragrance to the brim.

    And in the cloud that lingered low - 
     A silent pallor in the West - 
    There stirred and beat a golden glow
     Of some great heart that could not rest,
     A heart of gold within its breast.

    Your heart, your life was in the wild,
     Your joy to hear the whip-poor-will
    Lament its love, when wafted mild
     The harvest drifted from the hill:
    The deep, deep wildwood where had trod
     The red deer o'er the fallen hush
    Of Fall's torn leaves, when the low tod
     Was frosty 'neath each berried bush.

    At dusk the whip-will still complains
     Above your lolling lilies, where
    Their faces white the moonlight stains,
     The dreamy stream flows far and fair
     Whisp'ring of rest an easeful air ...

    O music of the falling rain,
     At night unto her painless rest
    Sound sweet and sad, then is she fain
     To see the wild flowers on her breast
    Lift moist, pure faces up again
     To breathe to God their fragrance blest.
    Thick-pleated beeches long have crossed
     Old, mighty arms above her tomb
    Where oft I watch at night her ghost
     Bow to the wild-flower's full-blown bloom
    A mist of curls, where Summer lost
     Her tangled sunbeams and perfume.

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Type of Poem: Elegy

Date Written:

Date Published:

Language: English

Keywords: Public Domain

Source: Public Domain Collection

Publisher:

Rights/Permissions: Public Domain

Comments/Notes: The poem is a poignant meditation on memory, loss, and the enduring power of nature. The speaker recalls a beloved figure through vivid sensory details, intertwining their memory with the beauty and transience of the natural world. The orchard "a-bud" with starlight and the lilies "brimmed with faint fragrance" serve as potent metaphors for the speaker's memories, which, like the flowers, are both beautiful and fleeting.

The poem employs an elegiac tone, with a rhythm and rhyme scheme that enhances its melancholic mood. The repeated references to nature’s elements—stars, lilies, the whip-poor-will, rain—convey a cyclical understanding of life and death, with the natural world acting as a constant reminder of the lost loved one. The poet also effectively uses personification, attributing human characteristics to nature, such as the "heart of gold" within the cloud, which evokes a sense of the beloved’s spirit living on in the landscape. The closing image of the ghost bowing to the flower's bloom suggests a peaceful acceptance of death and a reverence for the cycle of life. It's a deeply moving piece that explores the human connection to nature and the solace it can provide in times of grief.