Phoebe Cary (1824-1871)
"The Day is Done"
1The day is done, and darkness
2 From the wing of night is loosed,
3As a feather is wafted downward
4 From a chicken going to roost.
5I see the lights of the baker
6 Gleam through the rain and mist,
7And a feeling of sadness comes o'er me,
8 That I cannot well resist.
9A feeling of sadness and longing,
10 That is not like being sick,
11And resembles sorrow only
12 As a brick-bat resembles a brick.
13Come, get for me some supper,--
14 A good and regular meal,
15That shall soothe this restless feeling,
16 And banish the pain I feel.
17Not from the pastry's baker's,
18 Not from the shops for cake,
19I wouldn't give a farthing
20 For all that they can make.
21For, like the soup at dinner,
22 Such things would but suggest
23Some dishes more substantial,
24 And to-night I want the best.
25Go to some honest butcher,
26 Whose beef is fresh and nice
27As any they have in the city,
28 And get a liberal slice.
29Such things through days of labor,
30 And nights devoid of ease,
31For sad and desperate feelings
32 Are wonderful remedies.
33They have an astonishing power
34 To aid and reinforce,
35And come like the "Finally, brethern,"
36 That follows a long discourse.
37Then get me a tender sirloin
38 From off the bench or hook,
39And lend to its sterling goodness
40 The silence of the cook.
41And the night shall be filled with comfort,
42 And the cares with which it begun
43Shall fold up their blankets like Indians,
44 And silently cut and run.
Notes
1] Cf. Henry Wadworth Longfellow's "The Day is Done."
Online text copyright © 2011, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.
Original text: Phoebe Cary, Poems and Parodies (Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1854): 158-60. Internet Archive. OCLC Id: 00271599. Poems of Alice and Phoebe Cary with Notes (A. L. Burt, n.d.): 120-21. York University PS 1263 A25 B8
RPO poem editor: Ian Lancashire
RP edition: RPO 2000.
Recent editing: 2:2002/3/21*1:2011/6/1
Rhyme: abcb
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