May 24, 2026

The Light of Beauty: Skipwith Cannéll's "Nocturne I"

First appearing in the avant-garde literary magazine Poetry in 1913, "Nocturne I" is a hauntingly beautiful work by Skipwith Cannéll. An American poet associated with the Imagist movement, Cannéll was known for his rhythmic, almost incantatory style. This poem serves as a delicate invocation of devotion, using ethereal bird and light imagery to describe the magnetic pull of beauty and the willingness of the spirit to follow wherever it leads.

An illustration for the poem “Nocturne I” by Skipwith Cannell showing a woman in a blue dress holding a torch on a winding path under a starry sky with a white dove.

The Poem

 

Thy feet,
That are like little, silver birds,
Thou hast set upon pleasant ways;
Therefore I will follow thee,
Thou Dove of the Golden Eyes,
Upon any path will I follow thee,
For the light of thy beauty
Shines before me like a torch.

 

The Insight: The Light of Beauty

 

The poem offers a luminous summary of unwavering devotion and spiritual guidance. By transforming the subject’s beauty into a "torch," Cannéll suggests that true beauty acts as a compass, illuminating even the most uncertain paths and making them "pleasant ways" for the soul to travel.

Cannéll utilizes a series of avian metaphors to establish a sense of grace and otherworldly movement. Comparing "thy feet" to "little, silver birds" gives the subject a weightless, divine quality. The illustration brilliantly captures this atmosphere, showing a barefoot woman holding a torch that lights a winding road toward a distant, celestial castle while a dove flies overhead.

The core philosophical "takeaway" is the total surrender to the "Dove of the Golden Eyes". The speaker doesn't just admire beauty from afar; they pledge to follow it "upon any path". It is a reminder that when we find something truly beautiful—whether a person, an idea, or a faith—it ceases to be a mere object of admiration and becomes a light that directs our entire journey.

 

▶️ Listen to the Poem

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