Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THREE SPRING NOTATIONS ON BIPEDS, by CARL SANDBURG


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THREE SPRING NOTATIONS ON BIPEDS, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: The down drop of the blackbird
Last Line: She throws a stone and laughs at the clug-clug.
Subject(s): Spring


1

THE down drop of the blackbird,
The wing catch of arrest flight,
The stop midway and then off:
off for triangles, circles, loops
of new hieroglyphs—
This is April's way: a woman:
"O yes, I'm here again and your heart
knows I was coming."

2

White pigeons rush at the sun,
A marathon of wing feats is on:
"Who most loves danger? Who most loves
wings? Who somersaults for God's sake
in the name of wing power
in the sun and blue
on an April Thursday."

So ten winged heads, ten winged feet,
race their white forms over Elmhurst.
They go fast: once the ten together were
a feather of foam bubble, a chrysanthemum
whirl speaking to silver and azure.

3

The child is on my shoulders.
In the prairie moonlight the child's legs
hang over my shoulders.
She sits on my neck and I hear her calling
me a good horse.
She slides down—and into the moon silver of
a prairie stream
She throws a stone and laughs at the clug-clug.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net