Author: Madison Julius Cawein

---

I

    Small twilight singer
    Of dew and mist: thou ghost-gray, gossamer winger
    Of dusk's dim glimmer,
    How chill thy note sounds; how thy wings of shimmer
    Vibrate, soft-sighing,
    Meseems, for Summer that is dead or dying.
    I stand and listen,
    And at thy song the garden-beds, that glisten
    With rose and lily,
    Seem touched with sadness; and the tuberose chilly,
    Breathing around its cold and colorless breath,
    Fills the pale evening with wan hints of death.

II

    I see thee quaintly
    Beneath the leaf; thy shell-shaped winglets faintly - 
    (As thin as spangle
    Of cobwebbed rain) - held up at airy angle;
    I hear thy tinkle
    With faery notes the silvery stillness sprinkle;

    Investing wholly
    The moonlight with divinest melancholy:
    Until, in seeming,
    I see the Spirit of Summer sadly dreaming
    Amid her ripened orchards, russet-strewn,
    Her great, grave eyes fixed on the harvest-moon.

III

    As dewdrops beady;
    As mist minute, thy notes ring low and reedy:
    The vaguest vapor
    Of melody, now near; now, like some taper
    Of sound, far-fading - 
    Thou will-o'-wisp of music aye evading.
    Among the bowers,
    The fog-washed stalks of Autumn's weeds and flowers,
    By hill and hollow,
    I hear thy murmur and in vain I follow - 
    Thou jack-o'-lantern voice, thou pixy cry,
    Thou dirge, that tellest Beauty she must die.

IV

    And when the frantic
    Wild winds of Autumn with the dead leaves antic;
    And walnuts scatter
    The mire of lanes; and dropping acorns patter
    In grove and forest,
    Like some frail grief with the rude blast thou warrest,
    Sending thy slender
    Far cry against the gale, that, rough, untender,
    Untouched of sorrow,
    Sweeps thee aside, where, haply, I to-morrow
    Shall find thee lying - tiny, cold and crushed,
    Thy weak wings folded and thy music hushed.

---

Type of Poem: Elegy

Date Written:

Date Published:

Language: English

Keywords: Public Domain

Source: Public Domain Collection

Publisher:

Rights/Permissions: Public Domain

Comments/Notes: This poem is laden with rich symbolism and imagery, exploring themes of transience, mortality, and the inevitable progression of time. The poet introduces us to a twilight singer, a symbolic figure representing the fleeting beauty and ephemeral nature of life. The tone of the poem is overwhelmingly melancholic; this is not a joyful celebration of life, but rather a somber contemplation of its end.

The poem is structured into four stanzas, each of which further unfolds the narrative. In the first stanza, the twilight singer is introduced as a bringer of chill notes, a harbinger of the end of summer and the onset of death. The second stanza deepens this image, presenting the singer as a mystical creature that sprinkles the moonlight with "divinest melancholy." The third stanza presents the singer's elusive and fleeting song, likened to a "will-o'-wisp of music." Lastly, the fourth stanza juxtaposes the frailty of the singer against the harsh and "untender" elements of autumn, culminating in the final image of the singer lying crushed and silent.

Throughout the poem, the poet masterfully employs various literary devices to enhance the narrative and evoke emotion. Metaphors and similes abound, casting the twilight singer and its song in ethereal and mystical terms. The repeated use of alliteration, as seen in phrases such as "ghost-gray, gossamer winger" and "dusk's dim glimmer," not only adds a lyrical quality to the poem, but also underscores the fleeting and volatile nature of the singer and its song. The poem is a poignant rumination on life's fleeting beauty, and the inevitable cycle of birth, decay, and death.