Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, MARSH MATERNAL, by MARGARET MCGARVEY


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MARSH MATERNAL, by                    
First Line: What hunted things a marsh can hide
Last Line: When the marsh is clothed in mist.
Subject(s): Swamps; Bogs; Fens; Marshes


What hunted things a marsh can hide
In her pockets green and wide!
If you wish poor creatures well,
Never tell, oh, never tell
Of the marsh-hens, snipes and coots
Nesting in her watery shoots;
Of the heron's boggy bower
Fast as any fabled tower.

What vestal things a marsh can hold
In her lap of reedy gold:
Mollusks curled within a shell,
Fearful of the ocean's swell;
And on alabaster wings,
Whitest of all virgin things,
There the heron steals away
From the stare of lustful day.

What secret flights a marsh can keep
In her breasts so dark and deep...
If you would not break a spell,
Never tell, oh, never tell
Of the heron's ghostly rise
To the waiting sunset skies,
Of a lonely twilight tryst
When the marsh is clothed in mist.





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