The Great Breath
Born 1853
ITS edges foam'd with amethyst and rose,
Withers once more the old blue flower of day:
There where the ether like a diamond glows,
Its petals fade away.
A shadowy tumult stirs the dusky air;
Sparkle the delicate dews, the distant snows;
The great deep thrills--for through it everywhere
The breath of Beauty blows.
I saw how all the trembling ages past,
Moulded to her by deep and deeper breath,
Near'd to the hour when Beauty breathes her last
And knows herself in death.
DayPoems Poem No. 821
<a href="http://www.daypoems.net/poems/821.html">The Great Breath by George William Russell ('A. E.')</a>
The DayPoems Poetry Collection, www.daypoems.net
Timothy Bovee, editor
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