Classic and Contemporary Poetry
A PICTURE, by NORMAN ROWLAND GALE Poet's Biography First Line: No bell and steeple - let there be for me Last Line: The blackbird calling from his lilac tree. Subject(s): Courtship; Public Worship; Church Attendance | ||||||||
No bell and steeplelet there be for me The blackbird calling from his lilac tree. Grandfather in his broadcloth goes To hear the Parson's Sunday prose; He sleeps the sermon safely through, Behind his pillar out of view; For never dangerous doctrine ran From Parson Tom; he knows his man, And feeling his salvation sure He points the morals with a snore, Whereat with giggles all the girls Do shake their rows of dancing curls. Here is the flame of young romance Oft nourished by a subtle glance, And Cupid lifts beneath the nose Of Dame Theology the rose That quivers on Clarinda's heart Responsive to the looks that dart Whence Colin, tired of parables, The herdsmen's quarrel at the wells, Contents him with the lovely shape That glances through Clarinda's cape. Among the boys some bench is cut, Or one essays the traitor nut, Which pops, whereat with cheeks aflame The kernel's fumbled in his shame, And, rolling underneath a pew, Is out of reach, but still in view. And through the whispers, nut, and knife, Lot's wife, and yet again Lot's wife. Outside, his tale the blackbird spins, The tributary thrush begins To praise the blue audaciously With daring turns of melody. And now the Parson ends his prose, The hymn is sung, grandfather goes Serenely home, and quite assured He profited, and never snored, And thumps the turfy path apace Says, sleep in Church is sheer disgrace. Now Colin, free of circumstance, Pursues Clarinda with romance, Forgiving all the herdsmen's strife, Lot's wife, and yet again Lot's wife. No bell and steeplelet there be for me The blackbird calling from his lilac tree. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE WHEELING GOSPEL TABERNACLE by JAMES WRIGHT GIRLS GOING TO CHURCH by JOHN CIARDI EFFECT OVER DISTANCE by ALBERT GOLDBARTH THE RESPECTABLE BURGHER, ON 'THE HIGHER CRITICISM' by THOMAS HARDY GOSPEL VILLANELLE by ANDREW HUDGINS SONG BEFORE SORROW by LOUISE A. BALDWIN REMARKS TO THE BACK OF A PEW by WILLIAM ROSE BENET WHITE SPIRITUAL by WILLIAM BERRY THE COUNTRY FAITH by NORMAN ROWLAND GALE |
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