Metaphor

Read "Metaphor" at The Eldritch Dark:

http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/poetry/334/metaphor

In this poem, Clark Ashton Smith (CAS) draws a portrait using the rich language and imagery that was his to command:


You are the stately sunset,
And after you
Silence will rear the moon-eclipsing night,
And a few spectral stars will gather,
Like wisps to lead the wandering gods astray
Into the black and boundless fen of all the gulfs.


The last two lines quoted above create an incredible visualization of the vastness of the cosmos, and the aimlessness even of gods within that immense domain.  But the repeated line "You are the stately sunset" anchors all of this in the earthly realm, and assigns a dramatic nobility to the poem's subject. 

"Metaphor" is cosmic, mysterious, and alive with the music of spoken language - all of the elements that made CAS such a uniquely talented poet.