The Thames nocturne of blue and gold
Changed to a Harmony in grey:
A barge with ochre-coloured hay
Dropt from the wharf: and chill and cold
The yellow fog came creeping down
The bridges, till the houses' walls
Seemed changed to shadows and St. Paul's
Loomed like a bubble o'er the town.
Then suddenly arose the clang
Of waking life; the streets were stirred
With country waggons: and a bird
Flew to the glistening roofs and sang.
But one pale woman all alone,
The daylight kissing her wan hair,
Loitered beneath the gas lamps' flare,
With lips of flame and heart of stone.
Discussion questions and Essays
- London in Wilde and Dickens
- A painting in words: Wilde's "Impression du Matin"
- Subjectivity of Detail versus Subjectivity of the Panoramic: Oscar Wilde's "Impression du Matin," "Les Balloons," and "Symphony in Yellow"
- The Pervasion of Prostitutes
References
Source of text: Project Gutenberg: Oscar Wilde. Poems; etext was produced by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk.
Last modified 28 April 2010