Corpse-Day
July 19th, 1919
Dusk floated up from the earth beneath,
Held in the arms of the evening wind
—The evening wind that softly creeps
Along the jasper-terraces,
To bear with it
The old, sad scent
Of midsummer, of trees and flowers,
Whose bell-shaped blossoms, shaken, torn
By the rough fingers of the day
Ring out their frail and honeyed notes.
[ . . . ]
Osbert Sitwell's poem "Corpse-Day" was published in the fourth cycle of Wheels in 1919. To read this poem in full in a digitized version of this publication, follow the links below: