The Atlantic | January/February 2004 | E lucevan le stelle

Contents | January/February 2004

More on poetry from The Atlantic Monthly.

The Atlantic Monthly | January/February 2004

E lucevan le stelle

by William Matthews

.....

And the stars shone, and the earth unstoppered
its perfumes, the garden gate scrinched
open, footsteps lisped along the path
and they were hers, and she was mine.

And my hand shook the more slowly
I unwrapped and dawdlier I kissed her,
and her aromas rose, and the hour fled,
which is the way with hours.

And I've unveiled myself of any hope,
and death's steps rasp along the path,
and, like any star, I have nothing
to burn but the life I love.

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William Matthews (1942-1997) published eleven volumes of poetry in his lifetime. This poem appears in Search Party: Collected Poems of William Matthews, edited by Sebastian Matthews and Stanley Plumly, which has just been published.