Impromptu
I have none other thought of peace, but only Thee.
One time, the world contained great store of friends,
Mother and Brethren, Teachers, Holy Guides,
All tender to my foolishness; all dear to me;
But this last woe they would not understand.
I once had hopes of heaven, whereon I slept and smiled,
But a cold hand awoke me from that dream.
Only thy youth, fair child, thy beauty, joy, and youth,
Can give me all I want, heart-ease and rest.
Though thou art ignorant of what dark books may hold,
Or darker pages of real human life
Yet thou art not too young, too holy-innocent,
To pity one in pain for human sin.
O Girl, a sole tear, shining on thy cheek for me
More strengthens me than glittering angel-ranks;
Whose glory no eye sees; whose power is never felt,
Whose sinlessness supports no sinful head,
Whose wondrous music never cased a human ear.
Ah, well-a-day; seeing my Heaven's empty now,
I would the world were void of all but thee.
Oh, now, unless my face hath set too granite-hard
And hurt thy tender hands to stroke it o'er,
Unless the fires that ever rage behind my eyes,
Hot-sear thy lips in pressing kisses there,
I crave thee, place thy two soft hands upon my cheeks,
So shall long-treasured tears be loosed at last.
Open thy infinite-vast eyes on me ---
So shall my life melt out into their depth.
And I shall die away content, without regret;
Content to lose my sense of all for aye,
Simply to live within the memory of thy mind;
And when thy memory fail, to surcease, too.
Who would not part with life if he could surely know
It might lie casketed in such a head?
Title |
Impromptu
|
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Author |
Owen, Wilfred (1893-1918)
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Item date |
1983
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Content | |
Copyright |
The Estate of Wilfred Owen. The Complete Poems and Fragments of Wilfred Owen edited by Jon Stallworthy first published by Chatto & Windus, 1983. Preliminaries, introductory, editorial matter, manuscripts and fragments omitted.
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Digital repository | |
Repository name |
ProQuest
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Repository address URL | |
First line |
I have none other thought of peace, but only Thee.
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Publication source |
The Complete Poems and Fragments of Wilfred Owen
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Publication editor |
Stallworthy, Jon
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Publishers |
Chatto & Windus
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Publication place |
London
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Collection
Citation
“Impromptu,” by Owen, Wilfred (1893-1918). The Estate of Wilfred Owen. The Complete Poems and Fragments of Wilfred Owen edited by Jon Stallworthy first published by Chatto & Windus, 1983. Preliminaries, introductory, editorial matter, manuscripts and fragments omitted. via First World War Poetry Digital Archive, accessed May 14, 2024, http://ww1lit.nsms.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/collections/item/3314.
Permitted Use
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