Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, MUSINGS ON A COOL RETREAT, by CHRISTOPHER DARLINGTON MORLEY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MUSINGS ON A COOL RETREAT, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: I know a little hidden pool
Last Line: The woolworth building, in the basement!
Alternate Author Name(s): Hall, Galway
Subject(s): Lakes; Mountains; Pools; Ponds; Hills; Downs (great Britain)


I KNOW a little hidden pool
Where happy bathers oft repair;
Secluded, clear and deep and cool,
Men find right brave refreshment there,
And swiftly doffing shirts and panties
They revel blissful -- rari nantes.

Remote from scenes of toil and teen
All heat and grievance they expunge;
Enjoying in that shimmering green
The swift shock of a silver plunge,
And crying "O deorum quicquid
We thank thee for this pool: some liquid!"

Sharp glory of that dive, the first --
And thrill (but how can it be told?)
When bodies, slowly falling, burst
Into the all-encircling cold,
Then splash, or float among the ripple
As passive as a participle.

How far away, you will agree,
Must lie that cool and placid grot --
Amid the Catskill greenery?
Some distant Adirondack spot?
Yet, if you ask where is the place meant --
The Woolworth Building, in the basement!





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