Twilight Song by Edwin Arlington Robinson
The poem follows a collective group who have endured a long journey of labor, struggle, laughter, grief, fighting, and death through both brightness and rain. They repeatedly raise an old song before night returns, accepting the road that continues onward. Long ago, a sign appeared in the sky, but the people feared to pray for a new sun while the King was near. Under the King’s presence, no child dared move, even as light filled the land and brought a message. They recognized the gleam of hope but feared the coming day, whose dawn destroyed an earlier dream. Now the King is dead, and the travelers understand that all are led by the road and have shared the day’s bread. They can dismiss the dream because dreams shatter and vanish, yet they trust the enduring gleam. Having cast aside their burden in response to night’s call, they know their path. After completing the day’s quest, they earn rest, having heard the King’s groans and burned his bones, and they again lift their song as the road continues through shine and rain.
By Edwin Arlington Robinson · First published 1896 · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Symbolist Poetry, Political Poetry · 402 words
First lines
THROUGH the shine, through the rain
We have shared the day's load; / To the old march again
What this Textopian page supports
Twilight Song is listed on Textopian as a poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson, dated 1896 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Date: 1896 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Symbolist Poetry, Political Poetry, Revolutionary Poetry, Philosophical Poetry
- Length: 402 words
- Structure: 1 section, 27 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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- Work identity for Twilight Song by Edwin Arlington Robinson
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Genres
- Lyric Poetry — The work is a compact, musical poem structured in recurring stanzas and refrains, emphasizing collective feeling, rhythm, and symbolic imagery rather than narrative plot.
- Symbolist Poetry — The King, road, dawn, gleam, dream, night, and rain function as suggestive symbols for political, spiritual, or existential transformation rather than as fully literal narrative elements.
- Political Poetry — Its repeated references to the King's rule, death, crown, groans, and burned bones evoke the overthrow of monarchy and the shared consequences of social or political change.
- Revolutionary Poetry — The poem presents a collective body that has resisted, suffered, fought, and symbolically destroyed the old ruler, then continues onward after the collapse of the former order.
Tags
poetry · American literature · modern poetry · lyric poetry · melancholy · introspection · mortality · love · loneliness · memory · disillusionment · human nature