Otters
Padraic Colum 1881 (County Longford) – 1972 (Enfield)
I'LL be an otter, and I'll let you swim
A mate beside me; we will venture down
A deep, full river when the sky above
Is shut of the sun; spoilers are we;
Thick-coated; no dog's tooth can bite at our veins
With ears and eyes of poachers; deep-earthed ones
Turned hunters: let him slip past,
The little vole, my teeth are on an edge
For the King-fish of the River!
I hold him up
The glittering salmon that smells of the sea:
I hold him up and whistle!
Now we go
Back to our earth; we will tear and eat
Sea-smelling salmon: you will tell the cubs
I am the Booty-brmger: I am the Lord
Of the River the deep, dark, full, and flowing River!
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 39 sec read
- 83 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | XXXAXXXXB XAX XXXXB |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 626 |
Words | 128 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 3, 5 |
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"Otters" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/28489/otters>.
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