A Dirge by Edith Nesbit (1906)
The poem is a lament for the passing of summer and the arrival of winter. The speaker rejects the charms of summer, preferring the bareness and cold of winter. They see summer as a time of false triumph and artificial beauty, and welcome the wild mourning of winter's wind-tossed boughs to drown the stillness of an empty house where children no longer come home.
By Edith Nesbit · First published 1906 · Genre: Poetry, Romantic, Gothic · 178 words
First lines
Let Summer go To other gardens; here we have no need of her.
She smiles and beckons, but we take no heed of her, Who love not Summer, but bare boughs and snow.
Set the snow free To choke the insolent triumph of the year, With birds that sing as though he still were here, And flowers that blow as if he still could see.
Let the rose die -- What ailed the rose to blow? she is not dear to us, Nor all the summer pageant that draws near to us; Let it be over soon, let it go by!
What this Textopian page supports
A Dirge is listed on Textopian as a poem by Edith Nesbit, dated 1906 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Edith Nesbit
- Date: 1906 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Poetry, Romantic, Gothic
- Length: 178 words
- Structure: 1 section, 5 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Very Easy (5th Grade or below)
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Discussion starters
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Similar titles
- Requiem by Edith Nesbit
- The Ghost by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
- Haunted by Edith Nesbit
- A Dirge In Gray by Edith Nesbit
- From The Grave by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
- A Grave by Edith Wharton
Genres
- Poetry — The work is structured in verse form, with rhythmic and rhyming patterns, typical of poetry.
- Romantic — The work expresses deep emotional longing and loss, characteristic of the Romantic genre.
- Gothic — The work's focus on death, decay, and the passage of time aligns with Gothic themes.
Tags
Gothic Fiction · Victorian Era · Poetry · Death · Mourning · Loss · Sorrow · Melancholy · Dark Fantasy · Supernatural · Ghost Story · Haunted House