Classic and Contemporary Poetry
VERTICALS, by HELEN DANFORTH PRUDDEN First Line: How many verticals there are! Last Line: My spirit cries its impotence. Subject(s): Nature | ||||||||
How many verticals there are! A poplar tree that points a star, Straight birches on an autumn hill That weave a length of gray lined twill, Sleek leaves of rhododendron curled By winter cold like green flags furled Hang stiffly from their staves of brown And stripe the bushes up and down. As Gothics lure the eyes on high I climb some uprights to the sky, But when sweet April's strings of rain Make puppet flowers dance again And pine trees' candled tips flash sparks While crows caw exclamation marks, Then inarticulate I stand With prisoned heart and shackled hand Behind frail bars of joy from whence My spirit cries its impotence. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...INTERRUPTED MEDITATION by ROBERT HASS TWO VIEWS OF BUSON by ROBERT HASS THE FATALIST: HOME by LYN HEJINIAN WRITING IS AN AID TO MEMORY: 17 by LYN HEJINIAN LET US GATHER IN A FLOURISHING WAY by JUAN FELIPE HERRERA IN MICHAEL ROBINS?ÇÖS CLASS MINUS ONE by HICOK. BOB BREADTH. CIRCLE. DESERT. MONARCH. MONTH. WISDOM by JOHN HOLLANDER VARIATIONS: 16 by CONRAD AIKEN UNHOLY SONNET 13 by MARK JARMAN |
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