Classic and Contemporary Poetry
PANAMA: THREE PICTURES, by HAROLD WILLARD GLEASON First Line: From out of the sultry sky the great moon / beams Last Line: And rest, refreshing rest, hangs over all. Subject(s): Forests; Panama; Pioneers; Travel; Woods; Journeys; Trips | ||||||||
FROM out of the sultry sky the great moon beams: Below lie forest, jungle, fern and brake, Broad tangled stretches unessayed by man; Great stagnant pools with fever-laden breath; Untrodden ways, where glide strange deadly snakes; And giant trees, whereon, like errant souls, Shine ghostly orchids' phosphorescent gleams. A dead twig snaps: vast clouds of birds arise From out the marshes' depths, with screaming shrill. The screaming fades; remains a heavy drone Of countless insects, ministers of death; And heat, oppressive, dread, hangs over all. From out the sultry sky the great moon beams: The jungle has to chaos given place. Where once the foetid forest's marshes stood Great eery shapes now rise against the sky, Like monsters of a prehistoric age; Tall cranes and derricks, dredgers, heaps of stone, The signs of sturdy, progress-loving man. The pools remain; the insects' drone is hushed; To other, denser wilds the birds have flown, While twinkling lights mark rows of tiny homes Where rest the pioneers of Panama: And heat, oppressive, dread, hangs over all. From out the sultry sky the great moon beams: Soft falls the moonlight, on the Gatun Lock, Culebra's channel, and the spotless sides, The white stone structure of the Great Canal. Anon, with lights ablaze, huge steamships glide, Like monsters crawling, through the tropic night, Envoys of nations, spreading world-wide peace. Where death once lurked, all now is life and joy; For Goethal's guiding hand has put to flight Disease, and all that made a heaven hell At that fair spot, the Juncture of the Seas: And rest, refreshing rest, hangs over all. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...RICHARD, WHAT'S THAT NOISE? by RICHARD HOWARD LOOKING FOR THE GULF MOTEL by RICHARD BLANCO RIVERS INTO SEAS by LYNDA HULL DESTINATIONS by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN THE ONE WHO WAS DIFFERENT by RANDALL JARRELL THE CONFESSION OF ST. JIM-RALPH by DENIS JOHNSON SESTINA: TRAVEL NOTES by WELDON KEES TO H. B. (WITH A BOOK OF VERSE) by MAURICE BARING CHIAROSCURO by HAROLD WILLARD GLEASON |
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