Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ABANDONED MARBLE QUARRY, by JESSIE YOUNG NORTON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ABANDONED MARBLE QUARRY, by                    
First Line: The derricks and the drills had turned to rust
Last Line: Above the vanished drills' arpeggios.
Subject(s): Quarries


The derricks and the drills had turned to rust
And water filled it nearly to the brim;
New quarries felt the chisel's bite and thrust
While bushes grew unchecked upon its rim.
The surface was adrift with sodden logs
And curling leaves, beneath whose quaking sheet
The splash and thin staccato of the frogs
Gave warning to unwary, strolling feet.

But there was breath of grandeur in it still --
Faint whisperings of colonnades of stone
To crown the semicircle of a hill --
And portico and nave and parthenon
Took shape, while flute and trumpet call arose
Above the vanished drills' arpeggios.





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