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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE NIGHT HERON, by ALICE HARLOW STETSON
First Line: Where does he build his nest, whose cypress tree
Last Line: Aloof inscrutable call.
Subject(s): Herons
First Line: Where does he build his nest, whose cypress tree
Last Line: Aloof inscrutable call.
Subject(s): Herons
Where does he build his nest, whose cypress tree,
The velvet dusk of dawn out-velveting,
Welcomes him home no more
From night-long quest among the stealthy reeds, --
The furtive whispering reeds that tiptoe down
The dim mysterious shore?
Since on his hillside, stripped of ancient boughs
That held the secret of his primitive nest,
Rises a gilded dome; --
And loud imperious bells insistently
Shatter the crystal of old silences,
Where does he make his home?
The sunset sky is lonely for his flight,
Slow-winged and dark across the deepening west; --
Is listening for the fall
Of his far note that gathered to the heart
The old strange freshness of the spring, in one
Aloof inscrutable call.
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HERONS IN WINTER IN THE FROZEN MARSH by MARY OLIVER
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THE GREAT BLUE HERON by CAROLYN KIZER
MOONRISE by ALICE HARLOW STETSON