My heart has rooms that sigh with dust
And ashes in the hearth.
They must be cleaned and blown away
By daylight's breath.
But I cannot essay the task,
For even dust to me is dear;
For dust and ashes still recall,
My love was here.
I know not how to say farewell,
When farewell is the word
That stays alone for me to say
Or will be heard.
But I cannot speak out that word
Or ever let my loved one go:
How can I bear it that these rooms
Are empty so?
I sit among the dust and hope
That dust will cover me.
I stir the ashes in the hearth
Though cold they be.
I cannot bear to close the door,
To seal my loneliness away
While dust and ashes yet remain
Of my love's day.
-Stephen R. Donaldson
*I absolutely love this poem. Every time I read it I cry. It is so sad. Actually I don't know if Stephen Donaldson wrote this. It was in a book that he wrote. I assume that he wrote it, because the book did not state wheter someone else did. Anyway, what do you think?
Post Edited (07-08-03 14:16)
"Loving people is like farting in the wind; You don't actually accomplish anything, but you feel better."
~The Great and Powerful Angelia~
I don't like it. The language is stilted, the rhymes are forced (heart and breath don't rhyme), and the sentiment is lugubrious.
I cry when I cut an onion.
I think it kind of interesting that he used "breath" to end that line when he could have used "start".
Les
Maybe it's a typo and should read "hearth".
Post Edited (07-04-03 13:15)
It is a typo as Glenda suggested.
I guess it could be a typo. Hearth would make a partial rhyme with breath. But what about these lines?
"I stir the ashes in the heart
Though cold they be."
Another typo?
I can't defend it. The meter aggravates me.
Stephen Donaldson...he's a science fiction writer isn't he?
Zoe
There is something of a biography here:
[theland.antgear.com] />
Les
I don't like it- but then I don't like Donaldson's prose writing either, so......
pam
Okay, sir Colin. I mispelled hearth. It was not intended to be heart. Sorry. Oh, and by the way; I don't like onions.
"Loving people is like farting in the wind; You don't actually accomplish anything, but you feel better."
~The Great and Powerful Angelia~
Okay. I obviously cannot spell the word 'hearth.' Yes, both hearts were meant to be hearth. I changed it.
Stephen Donaldson is a splendid writer. He wrote the Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever series. Maybe they are a bit disturbing, but I find that is what I enjoy.
This may have turned out better if I spelled hearth right. Now that I partially explained myself, does anyone have anything else to say?
"Loving people is like farting in the wind; You don't actually accomplish anything, but you feel better."
~The Great and Powerful Angelia~
The poem is still bad.
By the way, you misspelled misspelled.
I rather like it, especially the first and last verses. It goes off a bit in the middle, the first four lines of the second verse don't fit as well. But on the whole, I think he had an interesting idea and brought it off fairly well.
I am so sorry Sir Colin. As you can see spelling is not one of my strong points. Thank you for your comment!
"Loving people is like farting in the wind; You don't actually accomplish anything, but you feel better."
~The Great and Powerful Angelia~
As I mentioned before he wrote this in a book. It was supposed to be a song. I'm sure if you read the book it would make a lot more sense. Someone important had just died, so it was very fitting. Maybe that's why I cried, simply because someone died. Interesting. You people always make me think! Thanks!
"Loving people is like farting in the wind; You don't actually accomplish anything, but you feel better."
~The Great and Powerful Angelia~
I think it's one of those rules like Murphy's Law- 'Any correction of grammar or spelling will contain at least one mistake.'
pam
And it might work better as a song, with music behind it. Lyrics are not necessarily good poems.
pam