by W. H. (Wystan Hugh) Auden (1907 - 1973)

Language: English 
O where are you going? said reader to rider,
That valley is fatal when furnaces burn,
Yonders the midden whose odors will madden,
That gap is the grave where the tall return.
O do you imagine, said fearer to farer,
That dusk will delay on your path to the pass,
Your diligent looking discover the lacking,
Your footsteps feel from granite to grass?
O what was that bird, said horror to hearer,
Did you see that shape in the twisted tree?
Behind you swiftly the figure comes softly,
The spot on your skin is a shocking disease.
Out of this house said rider to reader,
Yours never will said farer to fearer,
Theyre looking for you said hearer to horror,
As he left them there, as he left them there.

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2004-08-04
Line count: 16
Word count: 130