This poem (coming to me from Poem-A-Day.org) was American writer Djuna Barnes's (1892-1982) first published text. She was 19 at the time. Barnes suffered through an unfortunate childhood, including being talked into marrying a 52-year-old when she was 17. She was a key figure in the modernist movement and spent many years in the expatriate community in Paris before moving to Greenwich Village. She is probably best known for her novel Nightwood, though in addition to her novels, she wrote plays and articles, including an interview with James Joyce, who became a friend.
The Dreamer
The night comes down, in ever-darkening shapes that seem—
To grope, with eerie fingers for the window—then—
To rest to sleep, enfolding me, as in a dream
Faith—might I awaken!
And drips the rain with seeming sad, insistent beat.
Shivering across the pane, drooping tear-wise,
And softly patters by, like little fearing feet.
Faith—this weather!
The feathery ash is fluttered; there upon the pane,—
The dying fire casts a flickering ghostly beam,—
Then closes in the night and gently falling rain.
Faith—what darkness!
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