Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE LATIN TONGUE, by JAMES J. DALY First Line: Like a loud-booming bell shaking its tower Last Line: Ran straight for comfort up to god. Subject(s): Language; Words; Vocabulary | ||||||||
Like a loud-booming bell shaking its tower Of granite blocks, the antique Latin tongue Shook the whole earth; over all seas it flung Triremes of war, and bade grim legions scour The world's far verges. Its imperial dower Made Tullius a god; and Flaccus strung Its phrases into garlands; while among The high enchanters it gave Maro power. Then Latin lost its purple pomp of war, Its wine-veined laughter and patrician tears; It cast its fleshly grossness, won a soul, And trafficked far beyond the farthest star With angel-cohorts, echoing through the years In sacred Embassies from pole to pole. Her safely downward to the ledge Or whether you renew your pledge, Daring the alien quest again -- Something of her is freed by pain: Something of her that slipped and fell Past you and the others into Hell -- And something else that, ether-shod, Ran straight for comfort up to God. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HOWYOUBEENS' by TERRANCE HAYES MY LIFE: REASON LOOKS FOR TWO, THEN ARRANGES IT FROM THERE by LYN HEJINIAN THE FATALIST: THE BEST WORDS by LYN HEJINIAN WRITING IS AN AID TO MEMORY: 17 by LYN HEJINIAN CANADA IN ENGLISH by JUAN FELIPE HERRERA THERE IS NO WORD by TONY HOAGLAND CONSIDERED SPEECH by JOHN HOLLANDER AND MOST OF ALL, I WANNA THANK ?Ǫ by JOHN HOLLANDER |
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