|
|
|
Classic and Contemporary Poetry
NOCTURNE: IN CALIFORNIA, by JAMES RORTY Poet's Biography
First Line: The cold hills of california by night
Last Line: Lovely and vagrant, virginal and shy.
Subject(s): California
First Line: The cold hills of california by night
Last Line: Lovely and vagrant, virginal and shy.
Subject(s): California
NOCTURNE: IN CALIFORNIA
The cold hills of California by night,
Watched by the myriad drifting stars that cannot light
The heathen darkness where they stand and meditate
That Arctic doom which is their ultimate estate:
The cold hills of California by night—
Oh, they shall rise and chill my heart with fright
When I am far from here and would forget
The lone coyote pleading for a soul,
His lean nose lifted where the planets roll
And coldly glitter in the ether-net.
When I am far from here and would forget,
My throat will tighten—I'll remember yet
The dead pines pointing stiffly to the sky
Their gaunt, accusing limbs, the sly
Cold wind that came and dropped upon the ground
The withered cones in stealthy notes of sound;
And how I plucked the acacia's scented gold
For bribe to melt that sullen cold
Against the coming of the young moon to the sky,
Lovely and vagrant, virginal and shy.
Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!
Other Poems of Interest...
THE LOVING SHEPHERDESS by ROBINSON JEFFERS
WEST COAST SOUNDS ?اض 1956 by BOB KAUFMAN
CALIFORNIA SORROW: CLAREMONT RAGA by MARY KINZIE
IN CALIFORNIA: MORNING, EVENING, LATE JANUARY by DENISE LEVERTOV
KEATS IN CALIFORNIA by PHILIP LEVINE
CALIFORNIA; FOR ADRIENNE RICH by HAYDEN CARRUTH
DRY GRASS & OLD COLOR OF THE FENCE & SMOOTH HILLS by LINDA GREGG
EVERYTHING'S A FAKE by FANNY HOWE