Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ON SHOOTING A SWALLOW IN EARLY YOUTH, by CHARLES TENNYSON TURNER Poet's Biography First Line: I hoard a little spring of secret tears Last Line: I seem to love the little ghost I made. Subject(s): Death - Animals; Swallows | ||||||||
I hoard a little spring of secret tears, For thee, poor bird; thy death-blow was my crime: From the far past it has flow'd on for years; It never dries; it brims at swallow-time. No kindly voice within me took thy part, Till I stood o'er thy last faint flutterings; Since then, methinks, I have a gentler heart, And gaze with pity on all wounded wings. Full oft the vision of thy fallen head, Twittering in highway dust, appeals to me; Thy helpless form, as when I struck thee dead, Drops out from every swallow-flight I see. I would not have thine airy spirit laid, I seem to love the little ghost I made. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SIXTH-MONTH SONG IN THE FOOTHILLS by GARY SNYDER SWALLOW FLIGHT by SARA TEASDALE EACH SUMMER'S SWALLOWS by JOHN UPDIKE THE DEPARTURE OF THE SWALLOW by WILLIAM HOWITT THE BLUE SWALLOWS by HOWARD NEMEROV THE CLIFF SWALLOWS by DEBRA NYSTROM HER FIRST-BORN by CHARLES TENNYSON TURNER |
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