Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE RIVER, by ARTHUR GUITERMAN Poet's Biography First Line: What may the gray gull know Last Line: That glide on the sable stream. Subject(s): New York City - Colonial Period; Night; Rivers; Bedtime | ||||||||
What may the gray gull know Ere the rolling sun is high Of the wakened world below His road in the winnowed sky? The song of the crowded streets, The throng of the wharf and quay, The tryst of ships where the river meets The burst of the gladdened sea. Where the smoke-wreaths lift and melt, Where the mainsail flaps and fills, And Hudson heaves like a wampum belt On the breast of the strong, red hills. What may the nighthawk view As the great wings cleave their way Through the gemmed arc's deeper blue To the haunt of his midnight prey? The fairy lamps that show On masthead, shrouds, and spars; The million lights of the town that glow Like a bank of welded stars; And the flare of red abaft, And the flash of the green abeam, And the glow-worm glare of the dragon craft That glide on the sable stream. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE BREATH OF NIGHT by RANDALL JARRELL HOODED NIGHT by ROBINSON JEFFERS NIGHT WITHOUT SLEEP by ROBINSON JEFFERS WORKING OUTSIDE AT NIGHT by DENIS JOHNSON POEM TO TAKE BACK THE NIGHT by JUNE JORDAN COOL DARK ODE by DONALD JUSTICE POEM TO BE READ AT 3 A.M by DONALD JUSTICE ROUND ABOUT MIDNIGHT by BOB KAUFMAN |
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