The wind of an autumn midnight
Is moaning around my door–
The curtains wave at the window,
The carpet lifts on the floor.
There are sounds like startled footfalls
In the distant chambers now,
And the touching of airy ringers
Is busy on hand and brow.
‘Tis thus, in the Soul’s dark dwelling–
By the moody host unsought–
Through the chambers of memory wander
The invisible airs of thought.
For it bloweth where it listeth,
With a murmur loud or low;
Whence it cometh–whither it goeth–
None tell us, and none may know.
Now wearying round the portals
Of the vacant, desolate mind–
As the doors of a ruined mansion,
That creak in the cold night wind.
And anon an awful memory
Sweeps over it fierce and high–
Like the roar of a mountain forest
When the midnight gale goes by.
Then its voice subsides in wailing,
And, ere the dawning of day,
Murmuring fainter and fainter,
In the distance dies away.
(Henry Howard Brownell)
More Poetry from Henry Howard Brownell:
Henry Howard Brownell Poems based on Topics: Mind, Thought & Thinking, Soul, Autumn, Memory- The Bay-Fight (Henry Howard Brownell Poems)
- From "The River-Fight" (Henry Howard Brownell Poems)
- The Sphinx (Henry Howard Brownell Poems)
- Annus Memorabilis (Henry Howard Brownell Poems)
- Words For 'Hallelujah Chorus' (Henry Howard Brownell Poems)
- The Burial Of The Dane (Henry Howard Brownell Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Mind Poems, Soul Poems, Thought & Thinking Poems, Memory Poems, Autumn PoemsBased on Keywords: ringers, listeth