{"id":4064,"date":"2011-02-21T06:25:40","date_gmt":"2011-02-21T10:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eachdayisacelebration.com\/?p=4064"},"modified":"2011-02-21T23:28:09","modified_gmt":"2011-02-22T03:28:09","slug":"the-deep-river-ran-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eachdayisacelebration.com\/?p=4064","title":{"rendered":"The Deep River Ran On"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today is the birthday of\u00a0W.H. Auden (1907-1973), and it is in his honor that I post this rather melancholy but very beautiful poem.<\/p>\n

This day is also the 125th anniversary of the dedication in 1885 of the Washington Monument, so for an illustration and mini-history, please see Washington\u2019s Monument<\/span><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Sundial\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

As I walked out one evening,<\/address>\n
Walking down Bristol Street,<\/address>\n
The crowds upon the pavement<\/address>\n
Were fields of harvest wheat.<\/address>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

And down by the brimming river<\/address>\n
I heard a lover sing<\/address>\n
Under an arch of the railway:<\/address>\n
\u2018Love has no ending.<\/address>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019ll love you, dear, I\u2019ll love you<\/address>\n
Till China and Africa meet,<\/address>\n
And the river jumps over the mountain<\/address>\n
And the salmon sing in the street,<\/address>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019ll love you till the ocean<\/address>\n
Is folded and hung up to dry<\/address>\n
And the seven stars go squawking<\/address>\n
Like geese about the sky.<\/address>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018The years shall run like rabbits,<\/address>\n
For in my arms I hold<\/address>\n
The Flower of the Ages,<\/address>\n
And the first love of the world.\u2019<\/address>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

But all the clocks in the city<\/address>\n
Began to whirr and chime:<\/address>\n
\u2018O let not Time deceive you,<\/address>\n
You cannot conquer Time.<\/address>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018In the burrows of the Nightmare<\/address>\n
Where Justice naked is,<\/address>\n
Time watches from the shadow<\/address>\n
And coughs when you would kiss.<\/address>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018In headaches and in worry<\/address>\n
Vaguely life leaks away,<\/address>\n
And Time will have his fancy<\/address>\n
To-morrow or to-day.<\/address>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018Into many a green valley<\/address>\n
Drifts the appalling snow;<\/address>\n
Time breaks the threaded dances<\/address>\n
And the diver\u2019s brilliant bow.<\/address>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018O plunge your hands in water,<\/address>\n
Plunge them in up to the wrist;<\/address>\n
Stare, stare in the basin<\/address>\n
And wonder what you\u2019ve missed.<\/address>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018The glacier knocks in the cupboard,<\/address>\n
The desert sighs in the bed,<\/address>\n
And the crack in the tea-cup opens<\/address>\n
A lane to the land of the dead.<\/address>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018Where the beggars raffle the banknotes<\/address>\n
And the Giant is enchanting to Jack,<\/address>\n
And the Lily-white Boy is a Roarer,<\/address>\n
And Jill goes down on her back.<\/address>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018O look, look in the mirror,<\/address>\n
O look in your distress:<\/address>\n
Life remains a blessing<\/address>\n
Although you cannot bless.<\/address>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018O stand, stand at the window<\/address>\n
As the tears scald and start;<\/address>\n
You shall love your crooked neighbour<\/address>\n
With your crooked heart.\u2019<\/address>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

It was late, late in the evening,<\/address>\n
The lovers they were gone;<\/address>\n
The clocks had ceased their chiming,<\/address>\n
And the deep river ran on.<\/address>\n

\u2014W. H. Auden<\/p>\n


\n<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today is the birthday of\u00a0W.H. Auden (1907-1973), and it is in his honor that I post this rather melancholy but very beautiful poem. This day is also the 125th anniversary of the dedication in 1885 of the Washington Monument, so for an illustration and mini-history, please see Washington\u2019s Monument. As I walked out one evening,Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[55,81,61,19],"class_list":["post-4064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-painting","tag-birthday","tag-landscape","tag-oil","tag-poem"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eachdayisacelebration.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eachdayisacelebration.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eachdayisacelebration.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eachdayisacelebration.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eachdayisacelebration.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4064"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/eachdayisacelebration.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4064\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4073,"href":"https:\/\/eachdayisacelebration.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4064\/revisions\/4073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eachdayisacelebration.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eachdayisacelebration.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eachdayisacelebration.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}