Heron
Lindsay G H Hall 1954 (Oxford)
In the Kelvin Gorge
The river platters past, and sings
Its gentle, winding tale of centuries –
Long before we things
Of dust and shadow
Trailed blasphemous feet
Upon the blessed earth–
And, long after we are gone,
Of ages yet to come.
While on its banks,
Proclaiming to the breeze
Their wafted rustle of thanksgiving
To Him whose love
And arm and prescient forge
Gave them, and us, our living,
Cascade the leaves of ancient willow-trees.
Sweet chatter of the choir
Of rails and thrushes,
Wagtails, on the slopes above,
Flushes lordly sky,
Makes here, in cheerful harmony
A polyphonic psalm.
But stop, look!
There on a rock
Amid the stream, unstinting
Grey-wing, still, so infinitely still,
In predatory silence
Feigning sleep,
He will keep
His ruthless countenance
With sharp and glinting, fell
And ever-watchful, beady eye,
Ever ready,
Standing, hungry, sentinel.
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Submitted by LindsayGeorge on May 01, 2021
Modified by LindsayGeorge on May 01, 2021
- 45 sec read
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Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABCBDEFGHICJKAJCLMKNOPQRJSTUUTVNOW |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 917 |
Words | 151 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 34 |
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"Heron" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/98871/heron>.
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