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Home: Poetry: Conrad Aiken: One
| ONE |
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a poem by Conrad Aiken
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- One, where the pale sea foamed at the yellow sand,
- With wave upon slowly shattering wave,
- Turned to the city of towers as evening fell;
- And slowly walked by the darkening road toward it;
- And saw how the towers darkened against the sky;
- And across the distance heard the toll of a bell.
- Along the darkening road he hurried alone,
- With his eyes cast down,
- And thought how the streets were hoarse with a tide of people,
- With clamor of voices, and numberless faces . . .
- And it seemed to him, of a sudden, that he would drown
- Here in the quiet of evening air, These empty and voiceless places . . .
- And he hurried towards the city, to enter there.
- Along the darkening road, between tall trees
- That made a sinister whisper, loudly he walked.
- Behind him, sea-gulls dipped over long grey seas.
- Before him, numberless lovers smiled and talked.
- And death was observed with sudden cries,
- And birth with laughter and pain.
- And the trees grew taller and blacker against the skies
- And night came down again.
| "One" is reprinted from The House of Dust: A Symphony. Conrad Aiken. Boston: The Four Seas Company, 1920. |
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