Classic and Contemporary Poetry
TO AN UNSEEN BIRD, by KATHLEEN REA BRAID First Line: Sharpened to a cutting edge on the whetstone Last Line: "nor cavil with loathed months in rack-ridden years." Subject(s): Birds; Solitude; Loneliness | ||||||||
Sharpened to a cutting edge on the whetstone Of pain; held rigid in my chair facing That right-angled enclosure I had come to hate During an interminable night -- at once -- Outside, I heard a cry. It echoed yet belied What I had felt. For awhile -- silence; Then a pouring out of rounded sound! No lark heard through the cadence of English song Sent molten notes poignantly through clouds more black. Oh, bird, I cannot even give you name, Yet of rare kind you cannot be, for we are Within our February night. Much thanks; Your song came straight, "Nest, if need, in pumiced snow: Nor cavil with loathed months in rack-ridden years." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...IN ABEYANCE by DENISE LEVERTOV IN A VACANT HOUSE by PHILIP LEVINE SUNDAY ALONE IN A FIFTH FLOOR APARTMENT, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS by WILLIAM MATTHEWS SILENCE LIKE COOL SAND by PAT MORA THE HONEY BEAR by EILEEN MYLES JOURNEYS by KATHLEEN REA BRAID |
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