Classic and Contemporary Poetry
RANCHO LA BREA, by ROY WALTER JAMES First Line: The air slips through the pepper boughs Last Line: She quickly covers death and sings of life. Subject(s): La Brea Tar Pits, Los Angeles | ||||||||
The air slips through the pepper boughs: The dangling eucalyptus leaves, high up Above, sway joyously on slender stems: Gay shining blackbirds swarm among the trees, Filling the morning air with gleeful sound: Shrinking shadows creep along the grass Toward the tree-trunks, clutching at the earth Beneath their mighty limbs. I look in vain Across the undulating ground in green All carpeted, for some weird sign or sight That would suggest the ancient tragedy. Without reward I look across the reedy pond Where redwings swing, for some grey spectral form That might suggest the terrifying woe Which was expressed in howl, pathetic wail, Or bellowing, when prehistoric beasts Died here a quarter million years ago. For, knowing as I do of old black bones That are preserved in asphalt buried there Beneath the sod beyond that clump of trees, Vainly I seek some phantom of the past To symbolize past woe; but all is joy. Long thread-like clouds sweep over the mountain tops: An airplane drones in wheeling speedy flight, And autos whiz along the boulevard. Blue oily bubbles sparkle on the pond, Reflecting rainbow colors from the sky: Gay red-wings flit from reed to reed and swing: A meadow lark calls clear across the grass: The blackbirds flitter, singing joyous songs. The air slips softly by me thru the trees: No sign of ancient woe and death is here. Now all at once my spirit is bowed low And overwhelmed to see how Nature sings, But sings of lifehow Nature speaks, but not Of great past woehow Nature, blithe, knows well Of death throughout the Universe, but fails To let us know, except as we may seek And find. She will not tell. Without regret She quickly covers death and sings of life. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...VANISHING JOY by ROY WALTER JAMES VARIATIONS: 10 by CONRAD AIKEN PARTING LOVERS by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING UP AT A VILLA - DOWN IN THE CITY by ROBERT BROWNING HOME THOUGHTS FROM FRANCE by ISAAC ROSENBERG THE IMMORTALS by ISAAC ROSENBERG LAMENT OF THE MASTER ERSKINE by ALEXANDER SCOTT (1520-1590) |
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