"In the deserts of the heart / Let the healing fountain start."
— Auden, W. H. (1907-1973)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
New York
Publisher
Random House
Date
1940
Metaphor
"In the deserts of the heart / Let the healing fountain start."
Metaphor in Context
Follow, poet, follow right
To the bottom of the night,
With your unconstraining voice
Still persuade us to rejoice;
With the farming of a verse
Make a vineyard of the curse,
Sing of human unsuccess
In a rapture of distress;
In the deserts of the heart
Let the healing fountain start,
In the prison of his days
Teach the free man how to praise.
(ll. 54-65)
To the bottom of the night,
With your unconstraining voice
Still persuade us to rejoice;
With the farming of a verse
Make a vineyard of the curse,
Sing of human unsuccess
In a rapture of distress;
In the deserts of the heart
Let the healing fountain start,
In the prison of his days
Teach the free man how to praise.
(ll. 54-65)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
W. H. Auden, Another Time (New York: Random House, 1940). <Link to Poets.org>
Date of Entry
05/19/2011
