Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Somnus (A Fragment)

Read "Somnus" at The Eldritch Dark:


Clark Ashton Smith (CAS) included this work in his Selected Poems (1971) among a selection of his early poems.  Although this poem is subtitled "A Fragment", it feels complete to me, especially since it describes a dream state, and thus is well-served by brevity and a lack of concrete imagery.

These lines read very much to me like an incantation, as though they were the words of a spell intended to put the listener to sleep.  CAS has included a couple of verbs ("falter", "grope") that really enhance the feeling of exploring the mysterious space between sleep and waking.

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