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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


GLADIOLI by ANN BRYANT

First Line: IF I SHOULD WISH TO HOLD AND NEATLY PHRASE
Last Line: THE ESSENCE OF A SPRING STILL NOT CONGEALED.
Subject(s): DETAILS; THINGS;

If I should wish to hold and neatly phrase
Gladioli, I would not haste to seek
A Dresden vase or one whose oval cheek
Was shaven smooth and cool with potter's glaze;
But I would search each hidden nook and maze
Until I found an empty jar, whose bleak
And bald contours would match the virile streak
In blooms leashed to a sword to pierce my gaze.

And thus I would envision the bright glance
Of a rainbow from keen blades; yet meet the frank
And open fragrance of the garden's yield
Restrained in earthen molds by circumstance,
Yet spilling on the cellar's must and dank,
The essence of a spring still not congealed.



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