Purple
PURPLE by WILFRED OWEN
Vividly gloomy, with bright darkling glows Of nebulae and warm, night-shimmering shores! Stain of full fruits, wines, passions, and the cores Of all quick hearts! Yet from its deeps there blows Aroma and romance of violets; Softness of far land, hazed; pacific lift Of smoke through quiet trees; and that wild drift Of smoulder when the flare of evening sets.
Solemn, columnar, thunder-throning cloud Wears it so stately that therein the King Stands before men, and lies in death's hand, proud. Purest, it is the diamond dawn of spring; And yet the veil of Venus, whose rose skin, Mauve-marbled, purples Eros' mouth for sacred sin.
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| Author | Owen, Wilfred (1893-1918) |
|---|---|
| Title | Purple |
| Item Date | 1983 |
| File type | Text |
| Content | Poem |
| Repository name | ProQuest |
| Repository URL | http://lion.chawyck.co.uk |
| Copyright | The Estate of Wilfred Owen. The Complete Poems and Fragments of Wilfred Owen edited by Jon Stallworthy first published by Chatto Windus, 1983. Preliminaries, introductory, editorial matter, manuscripts and fragments omitted. |
| First line | Vividly gloomy, with bright darkling glows |
| Publication source | The Complete Poems and Fragments of Wilfred Owen |
| Publication editor | Stallworthy, Jon |
| Publishers | Chatto Windus |
| Publication place | London |
| Digital repository | The First World War Poetry Digital Archive |
| Reference URL | http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/collections/item/3340 |
