#MIDDLEBURY
Moments of Vision
Thomas Hardy
That mirror
Which makes of men a transparency,
Who holds that mirror
And bids us such a breast-bared spectacle see
Of you and me?
That mirror
Whose magic penetrates like a dart,
Who lifts that mirror
And throws our mind back on us, and our heart,
Until we start?
That mirror
Works well in these night hours of ache;
Why in that mirror
Are tincts we never see ourselves once take
When the world is awake?
That mirror
Can test each mortal when unaware;
Yea, that strange mirror
May catch his last thoughts, whole life foul or fair,
Reflecting it – where?
About this poem
“Moments of Vision” was published in “Moments of Vision and Miscellaneous Verses” (Macmillan & Co., 1917).
About Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy was born in Dorset, England, on June 2, 1840. He published eight collections of poems, including “Poems of the Past and the Present” (Harper & Bros., 1902) and “Satires of Circumstance” (Macmillan & Co., 1914). Hardy died on Jan. 11, 1928.
The Academy of American Poets is a nonprofit, mission-driven organization, whose aim is to make poetry available to a wider audience. Email The Academy at poem-a-day@poets.org.
This poem is in the public domain. Originally published in Poem-a-Day, www.poets.org. Distributed by King Features Syndicate.
