"Leaving, as the moon releases / Twig by twig the night-entangled trees, / Leaving, as the moon behind the winter leaves, / Memory by memory the mind--"
— Macleish, Archibald (1892-1982)
Work Title
Date
1926
Metaphor
"Leaving, as the moon releases / Twig by twig the night-entangled trees, / Leaving, as the moon behind the winter leaves, / Memory by memory the mind--"
Metaphor in Context
A poem should be palpable and mute
As a globed fruit,
Dumb
As old medallions to the thumb,
Silent as the sleeve-worn stone
Of casement ledges where the moss has grown--
A poem should be wordless
As the flight of birds.
*
A poem should be motionless in time
As the moon climbs,
Leaving, as the moon releases
Twig by twig the night-entangled trees,
Leaving, as the moon behind the winter leaves,
Memory by memory the mind--
A poem should be motionless in time
As the moon climbs.
*
A poem should be equal to:
Not true.
For all the history of grief
An empty doorway and a maple leaf.
For love
The leaning grasses and two lights above the sea--
A poem should not mean
But be.
As a globed fruit,
Dumb
As old medallions to the thumb,
Silent as the sleeve-worn stone
Of casement ledges where the moss has grown--
A poem should be wordless
As the flight of birds.
*
A poem should be motionless in time
As the moon climbs,
Leaving, as the moon releases
Twig by twig the night-entangled trees,
Leaving, as the moon behind the winter leaves,
Memory by memory the mind--
A poem should be motionless in time
As the moon climbs.
*
A poem should be equal to:
Not true.
For all the history of grief
An empty doorway and a maple leaf.
For love
The leaning grasses and two lights above the sea--
A poem should not mean
But be.
Categories
Provenance
Reading. Text at Poetry.org: <http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15222>
Date of Entry
06/26/2007
