Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE HUNCHBACK, by JOHN PEALE BISHOP


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE HUNCHBACK, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: I saw a hunchback climb over a hill
Last Line: But where god's gone, there's no man knows.
Subject(s): Hunchbacks


I saw a hunchback climb over a hill,
Carrying slops for the pigs to swill.

The snow was hard, the air was frore,
And he cast a bluish shadow before.

Over the frozen hill he came,
Like one who is neither strong nor lame;

And I saw his face as he passed me by,
And the hateful look of his dead-fish eye:

His face, like the face of a wrinkled child
Who has never laughed or played or smiled.

I watched him till his work was done;
And suddenly God went out of the sun,

Went out of the sun without a sound
But the great pigs trampling the frozen ground.

The hunchback turned and retracked the snows;
But where God's gone, there's no man knows.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net