Elinor Wylie’s “Incantation” builds its power through a series of sharp, almost fairy-tale contrasts. Each stanza places something white or bright—a well, a shell, a rose, a glove, a dove, a door, a hand, a spark, a star—inside something dark, black, or threatening: a cave, brambles, a wild night, bitter pain, a burnt land, smothering dark. The repetition gives the poem the feel of a spell or prayer, as if the speaker is naming these small points of light to ward off darkness. The mood is mysterious and tense but also strangely hopeful, because each image insists that brightness survives inside what is harsh or frightening. It reads less like a story and more like a chant meant to summon courage or beauty in a world full of shadows.
Incantation — Summary
A white well In a black cave; A bright shell In a dark wave.
A white rose Black brambles hood; Smooth bright snows In a dark wood.
A flung white glove In a dark fight; A white dove On a wild black night.
A white door In a dark lane; A bright core To bitter black pain.
A white hand Waved from dark walls; In a burnt black land Bright waterfalls.
A bright spark Where black ashes are; In the smothering dark One white star.