Improvisations: Light And Snow: 03

Conrad AikenConrad Aiken

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The first bell is silver,
And breathing darkness I think only of the long scythe of time.
The second bell is crimson,
And I think of a holiday night, with rockets
Furrowing the sky with red, and a soft shatter of stars.
The third bell is saffron and slow,
And I behold a long sunset over the sea
With wall on wall of castled cloud and glittering balustrades.
The fourth bell is color of bronze,
I walk by a frozen lake in the dun light of dusk:
Muffled crackings run in the ice,
Trees creak, birds fly.
The fifth bell is cold clear azure,
Delicately tinged with green:
One golden star hangs melting in it,
And towards this, sleepily, I go.
The sixth bell is as if a pebble
Had been dropped into a deep sea far above me . . .
Rings of sound ebb slowly into the silence.
Conrad Aiken
About the poet

Conrad Aiken

1889 - 1973/AmericanConrad Potter Aiken was an American novelist and poet, whose work includes poetry, short stories, novels, and an autobiography. Aiken was deeply influenced by symbolism, especially in his earlier works. In 1930 he received the Pulitzer Pri…

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