Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, WHITE HEN, by FREDERICK R. MCCREARY


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

WHITE HEN, by                    
First Line: Then the wind-ruffled white hen of march
Last Line: Cool-handed april and may!
Subject(s): April; Chickens; Hens; March (month); May (month)


Then the wind-ruffled white hen of March
Scratched the earth acquiescent,
Did you hear her pleasant cackle at noon
While the weathercocks stretched with their high, golden airs
Too see if April was coming downstairs?
Now pricked from the sun and the south-turning wind,
Every twig, and bough, and treetop,
Thrust after thrust,
Once and twice and thrice,
At last they have caught it --
Slim-running greenness of April!

But the cry of a bird in the night,
Disillusion of petulant wings,
And the stark buds are still in the moonlight.
Trodden with horses, torn with steel,
Earth lies cold and broken.
Seeds are cold things, chill, white-lipped;
The past has shaped itself smooth and small;
It always sucks at tomorrow.
Still only a moment to pause and to doubt --
Swift, so swiftly,
Sudden my plum trees bare white arms
And carry the moon with them even at noon.
Over the blind black earth of morning
There is trail of white petals,
Splotch of white petals,
Finger marks, earth-loving finger prints,
Cool-handed April and May!





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net