The Shadows Come

Posted on by

The Shadows Come

“O river of stars and shadows, lead me through the night.”
–Siegfried Sassoon, “Before the Battle” (June 25, 1916)

I walk briskly in October’s chill, but the tune I hear is adagio,
a darkly pensive melody, wind-cello and a bird-horn. The river
flows on unconcerned, history in its currents, rippling reflections of
pastel tones and morning greys turned indigo under stars
that sparkle brighter in fallen frosted air, and
the light! The splendid slant of it, skewed through boughs, shadows
stretched bounding like deer to lead
travelers– animals, geese, and me–
across the seasons and through
time. Again, once again. The
walk of us all, from first dawn to final night.

For dVerse, I revised a golden shovel poem about shadows, though it’s from October.

51 thoughts on “The Shadows Come”

  1. It is a fascinating notion and an invitation to me to take in the noise of the surroundings as a music and a composition of our world, to be open to perceiving it that way – and it is what the poem makes me think of.

  2. A beautiful scene you draw us into, Merril, especially with these lovely first lines:

    “I walk briskly in October’s chill, but the tune I hear is adagio,
    a darkly pensive melody, wind-cello and a bird-horn”

    and then the analogy you reveal at the end gives the whole poem a satisfying ring of completion 🌸

  8. This is absolutely stunning, Merril! I especially admire this part; “The splendid slant of it, skewed through boughs, shadows stretched bounding like deer to lead travelers– animals, geese, and me–across the seasons and through time.” 💙💙💙

  10. Stupendous writing Merril — rich, deep, and timeless. Super work my friend, just splendid! Among my most favorite of your pieces. 🙂👍🏼✌🏼🫶🏼

  11. I love the music here: but the tune I hear is adagio,
    a darkly pensive melody, wind-cello and a bird-horn. Also love the imagery here: shadows
    stretched bounding like deer.

  13. It’s true that revised poems often reveal another facet to the poem, Merril. I love the first-person point of view, the feeling that I’m walking with you ‘briskly in October’s chill’, the use of sounds in this poem, especially:

    ‘the tune I hear is adagio,
    a darkly pensive melody, wind-cello and a bird-horn’,

    and the use of colour is effective in the lines:

    ‘pastel tones and morning greys turned indigo under stars
    that sparkle brighter in fallen frosted air…’

    A jewel of a poem!

  22. Pingback: a new beginning – Mom With a Blog

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.