Love The Wild Swan
Robinson Jeffers 1887 (Allegheny) – 1962 (Carmel-by-the-Sea)
"I hate my verses, every line, every word.
Oh pale and brittle pencils ever to try
One grass-blade's curve, or the throat of one bird
That clings to twig, ruffled against white sky.
Oh cracked and twilight mirrors ever to catch
One color, one glinting
Hash, of the splendor of things.
Unlucky hunter, Oh bullets of wax,
The lion beauty, the wild-swan wings, the storm of the wings."
--This wild swan of a world is no hunter's game.
Better bullets than yours would miss the white breast
Better mirrors than yours would crack in the flame.
Does it matter whether you hate your . . . self?
At least Love your eyes that can see, your mind that can
Hear the music, the thunder of the wings. Love the wild swan.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 04, 2023
- 39 sec read
- 175 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABCDEFEGHGIJK |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 699 |
Words | 131 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 15 |
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"Love The Wild Swan" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/32817/love-the-wild-swan>.
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