Cold-Blooded Creatures

Elinor Morton Wylie 1885 (Somerville, New Jersey) – 1928 (New York City, New York)



Man, the egregious egoist
(In mystery the twig is bent)
Imagines, by some mental twist,
That he alone is sentient

Of the intolerable load
That on all living creatures lies,
Nor stoops to pity in the toad
The speechless sorrow of his eyes.

He asks no questions of the snake,
Nor plumbs the phosphorescent gloom
Where lidless fishes, broad awake,
Swim staring at a nightmare doom.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

20 sec read
73

Quick analysis:

Scheme AAAA ABAB CDCD
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 375
Words 68
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4

Elinor Morton Wylie

Elinor Morton Wylie was an American poet and novelist popular in the 1920s and 1930s. "She was famous during her life almost as much for her ethereal beauty and personality as for her melodious, sensuous poetry." more…

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1 Comment
  • Tatiana Bobrovska
    Tatiana Bobrovska
    Let me offer my translation of this poem into Russian.

    Создания с холодной кровью

    Себя лишь любит человек
    И в помешательстве своём
    Считает ложно с юных лет,
    Что лишь один страдает он

    От утлой участи земной,
    Что всё живое тяготит.
    Не жаль ему и жабы, что
    С безмолвной горечью глядит.

    Змей не жалеет человек.
    Не манит бликом глубина,
    Где рыба, не смыкая век,
    Плывёт в кошмарных снах без сна.
     
    LikeReply4 years ago

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"Cold-Blooded Creatures" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/10147/cold-blooded-creatures>.

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