Wakefulness

Amy Lowell (1874 – 1925)

Was Lowell influenced by Japanese poets? The first three lines are short descriptors, declarative statements, much like haiku.  Read by Ghizela Rowe.

Jolt of market-carts;
Steady drip of horses’ hoofs on hard pavement;
A black sky lacquered over with blueness,
And the lights of Battersea Bridge
Pricking pale in the dawn.
The beautiful hours are passing
And still you sleep!
Tired heart of my joy,
Incurved upon your dreams,
Will the day come before you have opened to me?

—

Painting by Walter Greaves. Source: Wikimedia Commons

” Old Battersea Bridge: oil on canvas, 584 x 672 mm. Gallery caption reads: This is a picture of Old Battersea Bridge, seen from up stream, on Lindsey Row (now Cheyne Walk), with Battersea on the far shore. . . .: