The Formed Eye
The fog is in the fir trees,
Now dragging its slimy belly
On the bank.
Even the dirt keeps breathing
A small death.
Taken from the ocean,
The river turns upon itself.
In the dark time, an eye
Begins to form.
Let us go then, you and I,
The Cambridge Ladies who live in
Furnished souls,
Who never dreamed of incarnate
Gaps in time and space,
But of a world of knights
And wizards and Love.
Let us go then to imaginary gardens
With real toads in them.
But the flowering lily pads
Are moody, lapping their glossy sides
As if trying to hide
The slightest flaw, but
Failing completely.
And the warm eye in the sky
Is gone
And there is no light.
I knew not that you
Had covered my eyes, as
You led me down a path
Of twists and turns; a
Descent follows, endless and
Destructible.
One must have a mind of winter,
Biting clear and cold,
Who sees, who steps, who calls in a
Blessed rage for order.
When sisters separate, they haunt
Each other: you know in
Singing,
Not to sing.
About this poem
Published in Through the Eyes of Women: an International Collage, Chemeketa Press 1992
Font size:
Written on November 10, 1986
Submitted by Ariel on September 19, 2021
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 56 sec read
- 1 View
Quick analysis:
Scheme | XAXBXXXCX CDXEXXXXXXXXEACXXXXXFXA GXFGXDBB |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 929 |
Words | 187 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 23, 8 |
Translation
Find a translation for this poem in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Formed Eye" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 Sep. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/109932/the-formed-eye>.
Discuss the poem The Formed Eye with the community...
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In