Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, APRIL AFTERNOON, POINT LOMA (1769), by WINIFRED DAVIDSON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

APRIL AFTERNOON, POINT LOMA (1769), by                    
First Line: There feasted on these heights wild earth-hued folk
Last Line: Swept down la playa where awed indians knelt.
Subject(s): Afternoon; April; Ships & Shipping


There feasted on these heights wild earth-hued folk,
Scoffing I know, and jesting in the sun.
"A whale, a mighty, a prodigious one
Approaches!" mockers cried. Out of thin smoke,
Far, arching high into the sky there broke
Strange rotund shapes of Spanish sails, gray . . . dun,
The San Antonio, Christ's galleon,
Now raised Point Loma, now Guijarros woke.

What fear! The black sun hung within a veil;
The headland rocked, and those Coahuillas felt
Vague dread, the while crazed seabirds' rising wail
Made savage laughter into terror melt.
The ship of God heaved to; prayer like a gale
Swept down La Playa where awed Indians knelt.





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