Classic and Contemporary Poetry
WHAT THE SWALLOWS SAY, by THEOPHILE GAUTIER Poem Explanation Poet's Biography First Line: Dry leaves drop silently and cover Last Line: With swallows to eternal spring! Alternate Author Name(s): Theo, Le Bon Subject(s): Migration; Swallows; Winter | ||||||||
Dry leaves drop silently and cover The turf no longer fresh and green: Fair weather now alas! is over, The breeze at morn and eve is keen. But ere the Autumn days are ended, Earth's latest treasures charm the sight; The dahlia's full cockade is splendid, The marigold is flaming bright. In bubbling drops the rain is beating On every fountain, while on high The swallows hold a monster meeting To prate of winter now so nigh. By hundreds they have flocked together, Concerting plans to flee the cold: One says, " 'Tis always charming weather At Athens, on the rampart old. There, on the Parthenon I've wintered For many a year in peaceful rest, And where a cannon-ball has splintered A pillar's frieze, I make my nest." Another cries: "I hang my chamber Within a Turkish Café's walls, Where Hadjis count their beads of amber, And sunshine o'er the threshold falls: I comeI goI find no trouble 'Mid Latakia's vapours white, And while the long narghilehs bubble, I skim gay turbans in my flight." A third: "In Baalbec's temple splendid A triglyph yields me shelter warm; There, lightly by my claws suspended, I screen my gaping chicks from harm." A fourth: "In future my address is Rhodes, once with knightly warriors fill'd; Beneath a capital's recesses On some black column I shall build." A fifth one twitters: "I am fearful Age won't permit me far to fly; Still, Malta's terraces are cheerful Between blue water and blue sky." A sixth: "For me the land of Pharaoh! I'll paste an ornament with loam High on a minaret of Cairo, And thus secure my winter-home." The last one: "Soon I shall be flitting Above the Second Cataract; A granite monarch there is sitting, For swallows' nests expressly crack'd." Then all exclaim: "With tireless motion To-morrow we shall voyage o'er Brown plains, white peaks, and purple ocean Whose foaming billows fringe the shore." With quick, shrill cries, and wings a-flutter On the tall roofs and narrow eaves, Such is the talk the swallows utter, Scared by the Autumn's reddening leaves. I can interpret all their prattle; Each poet is a bird of light, Though like a captive, doomed to battle With powers unseen that check his flight. Then, "Oh! for pinions, airy pinions," As Rückert's charming verses sing, To rove each year o'er earth's dominions With swallows to eternal spring! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LOOKING EAST IN THE WINTER by JOHN HOLLANDER WINTER DISTANCES by FANNY HOWE WINTER FORECAST by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN AT WINTER'S EDGE by JUDY JORDAN CHAMBER MUSIC: 34 by JAMES JOYCE |
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