Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

DEAD COW FARM by ROBERT RANKE GRAVES

Poet Analysis

First Line: AN ANCIENT SAGA TELLS US HOW
Last Line: AND THE COW'S DEAD, THE OLD COW'S DEAD.
Subject(s): WORLD WAR I; FIRST WORLD WAR;
AN ancient saga tells us how
In the beginning the First Cow
(For nothing living yet had birth
But Elemental Cow on earth)
Began to lick cold stones and mud:
Under her warm tongue flesh and blood
Blossomed, a miracle to believe:
And so was Adam born, and Eve.
Here now is chaos once again,
Primeval mud, cold stones and rain.
Here flesh decays and blood drips red,
And the Cow's dead, the old Cow's dead.




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