The Pleiades

Arthur Henry Adams 1872 (Lawrence) – 1936 (Sydney, New South Wales)



LAST night I saw the Pleiades again,   
 Faint as a drift of steam   
   From some tall chimney-stack;   
And I remembered you as you were then:   
 Awoke dead worlds of dream,           
   And Time turned slowly back.   
  
I saw the Pleiades through branches bare,   
 And close to mine your face   
   Soft glowing in the dark;   
For Youth and Hope and Love and You were there           
 At our dear trysting-place   
   In that bleak London park.   
  
And as we kissed the Pleiades looked down   
 From their immeasurable   
   Aloofness in cold Space.           
Do you remember how a last leaf brown   
 Between us flickering fell   
   Soft on your upturned face?   
  
Last night I saw the Pleiades again,   
 Here in the alien South,           
   Where no leaves fade at all;   
And I remembered you as you were then,   
 And felt upon my mouth   
   Your leaf-light kisses fall!   
  
The Pleiades remember and look down           
 On me made old with grief,   
   Who then a young god stood,   
When you—now lost and trampled by the Town,   
 A lone wind-driven leaf,—   
   Were young and sweet and good!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

53 sec read
86

Quick analysis:

Scheme AbcAbc defdef gxegxe AhiAhi gjkgjk
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,101
Words 178
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6, 6

Arthur Henry Adams

Arthur Henry Adams was a journalist and author. He started his career in New Zealand, though he spent most of it in Australia, and for a short time lived in China and London.  more…

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    "The Pleiades" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/3866/the-pleiades>.

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