THE stars like quaking-grass grow in each gap Of air (ruined castle wall) . . . Pere Amelot in his white nightcap Peered through . . . saw nothing at all. Like statues green from the verdigris Of the moon, two shadows join His shade, that under that castle wall sees The moon like a Roman coin. Out of his nightcap he drew three pence . . . Marie and Angelique pass The knife through Pere Amelot's back -- in the dense Bushes fly . . . he nods on the grass. The man with the lanthorn, a moment after, Picks up the moon that fell Like an Augustan coin when laughter Shook the hen-cackling grass of Hell; And the Public Writer inscribing his runes Beneath that castle wall, sees Three Roman coins as blackened as prunes -- And Pere Amelot slain for these! The stars like quaking-grass grow in each gap Of air -- ruined castle wall . . . Pere Amelot nods in his white nightcap . . . He knows there is nothing at all! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SWEET CLOVER by EDGAR LEE MASTERS TOWARD THE GULF; DEDICATED TO THEODORE ROOSEVELT by EDGAR LEE MASTERS THE BALINESE WITCH DOCTOR by KAREN SWENSON OLD MAN by JEAN STARR UNTERMEYER WHITTIER by MARGARET ELIZABETH MUNSON SANGSTER THE STOLEN CHILD by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS |