Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SEA POPPIES by HILDA DOOLITTLE

Poet Analysis

First Line: AMBER HUSK
Last Line: AS YOUR BRIGHT LEAF?
Subject(s): BIBLE; POPPIES;

Amber husk
fluted with gold,
fruit on the sand
marked with a rich grain,

treasure
spilled near the shrub-pines
to bleach on the boulders:

your stalk has caught root
among wet pebbles
and drift flung by the sea
and grated shells
and split conch-shells.

Beautiful, wide-spread,
fire upon leaf,
what meadow yields
so fragrant a leaf
as your bright leaf?



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