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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE JERSEY MARSHES by EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN

Poet Analysis

First Line: WHEN APRIL RAINS AND THE GREAT SPRING-TIDE
Last Line: TWICE IN THE DAY, CONTINUOUSLY.
Subject(s): NEW JERSEY; SWAMPS; BOGS; FENS; MARSHES;

When April rains and the great spring-tide
Cover the lowlands far and wide,
And eastern winds blow somewhat harsh
Over the salt and mildewed marsh,
Then the grasses take deeper root,
Sucking, athirst and resolute;
And when the waters eddy away,
Flowing in trenches to Newark Bay,
The fibrous blades grow rank and tall,
And from their tops the red-birds call.
Five miles in width the moor is spread;
Two broad rivers its borders thread;
The schooners which up their channels pass
Seem to be sailing in the grass,
Save as they rise with the moon-drawn sea,
Twice in the day, continuously.



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