A Match with the Moon

A MATCH WITH THE MOON

Weary already, weary miles to-night
I walked for bed: and so, to get some ease,
I dogged the flying moon with similes.
And like a wisp she doubled on my sight
In ponds; and caught in tree-tops like a kite;
And in a globe of film all liquorish
Swam full-faced like a silly silver fish;—
Last like a bubble shot the welkin’s height
Where my road turned, and got behind me, and sent
My wizened shadow craning round at me,
And jeered, “So, step the measure,—one two three!”
And if I faced on her, looked innocent.
But just at parting, halfway down a dell,
She kissed me for good-night. So you’ll not tell.

-Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Note: Welkin means “the sky; the vault of heaven.”

6 thoughts on “A Match with the Moon”

I’m going to say this over until I learn it by heart.

I’m truly pleased that you open your personal library for the rest of us. Great resource, you!

(Afterthought: Why would they ruin the moon’s real role in our emotional lives by landing on it when there is so much poetry about it, and music, to visit?)

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GretchenJoanna says:

August 2, 2019 at 1:48 pm

Good question, Albert! It is already our Real Estate, we who have no desire to conquer and mine it.

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