One time I thought that sunset's flaming air Could forge in me the steel to batter through The hardy walls of men; that they, as you, Would quake at onslaughts from a poet's lair. We then lived roses; I had fooled despair And boxed him up and flogged his retinue, Made strong by cheeks and lips! I sucked in dew, And dragged the world, a weakling, by the hair. This hour is roseless; ruddiness is snuffed; Wan lilies, smutted in a dragon's breath, Are limp; and iron lizards track the earth To crunch men's bones, and dledgy clouds are buffed. I suck in smoke! I smile at grimy mirth, And laugh to think that @3you@1 had parried death. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE FIRST MOVIE by DAVID WAGONER THE FALCONER OF GOD by WILLIAM ROSE BENET CONCORD HYMN; SUNG AT COMPLETION OF CONCORD MONUMENT, 1836 by RALPH WALDO EMERSON A TIME TO TALK by ROBERT FROST IMMORTALITY [OR, VERSE] by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR ASTROPHEL AND STELLA: 74 by PHILIP SIDNEY OEDIPUS AT COLONUS: OLD AGE by SOPHOCLES |