"The Night" by H.D.
THE night has cut
each from each
and curled the petals
back from the stalk
and under it in crisp rows;
under at an unfaltering pace,
under till the rinds break,
back till each bent leaf
is parted from its stalk;
under at a grave pace,
under till the leaves
are bent back
till they drop upon earth,
back till they are all broken.
O night,
you take the petals
of the roses in your hand,
but leave the stark core
of the rose
to perish on the branch
each from each
and curled the petals
back from the stalk
and under it in crisp rows;
under at an unfaltering pace,
under till the rinds break,
back till each bent leaf
is parted from its stalk;
under at a grave pace,
under till the leaves
are bent back
till they drop upon earth,
back till they are all broken.
O night,
you take the petals
of the roses in your hand,
but leave the stark core
of the rose
to perish on the branch
Analysis
"The Night" by H.D. is a prime example the Modernism movement. The breaking away of the petals demonstrates the detachment of the modernists from the Victorian style of literature. The fear and destruction associated with the poem is another theme of the modernism movement that can be found throughout. The stripping of the beauty and glory of the plant is a stripping of the soul of the old ways of literature.
Modernism
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