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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
IT IS THE REED, by SISTER MARIS STELLA Poet's Biography
First Line: I did not cut myself this hollow reed
Last Line: It is the reed, it is the reed that sings.
Alternate Author Name(s): Smith, Alice Gustava
First Line: I did not cut myself this hollow reed
Last Line: It is the reed, it is the reed that sings.
Alternate Author Name(s): Smith, Alice Gustava
I did not cut myself this hollow reed,
I did not seek it in the shallows growing.
In all my life I paid but little heed
To burnished reeds in the bright shallows blowing.
And this that now is thrust into my hand
Mysteriously cut and tuned for singing
Was gathered in a strange and distant land
And has immortal airs about it clinging.
An unseen piper tuned its ghostly note.
O who would dare to touch it -- who would dare?
From out the fearful hollow of its throat
Such music pours as I am unaware
How to devise. I did not think these things.
It is the reed, it is the reed that sings.
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