|
|
|
Classic and Contemporary Poetry
BALTO, THE DOG, by WILLIAM A. PHELON
First Line: A trackless stretch of icy snow,
Last Line: "comes the grateful cry: ""you can trust a dog!"
Subject(s): Animals; Arctic; Dogs
First Line: A trackless stretch of icy snow,
Last Line: "comes the grateful cry: ""you can trust a dog!"
Subject(s): Animals; Arctic; Dogs
A TRACKLESS stretch of icy snow,
And a tube marked "Fifty-nine below"—
The Arctic blackness closing down
On an isolated, smitten town,
While the Polar winter's chilling breath
Brings moaning agony and death—
On the frozen sea grim spectres ride—
No hope, no help, from the world outside!
The Arctic noon-light, brief and wan,
And a wolfish dog-team, plodding on—
The malamutes hold steady pace,
While their great black leader strains the trace—
Half-frozen, stunned from head to heel,
The driver's senses fade and reel—
He falls upon his precious load,
But the great black leader holds the road!
A nearby call in the murky dark—
The sound of on eager, wolf-like bark—
They have topped the hills and are plodding down
With life for the stricken, dying town!
A senseless man on a battered sled,
With a huge black dog at the traces' head!
Out of the North and Arctic fog
Comes the grateful cry: "YOU CAN TRUST A DOG!"
Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!
Other Poems of Interest...
SENTIMENTAL DANGERS by ANDREW HUDGINS
SHOOTING THE DOG by JUNE JORDAN
AFTER AN ILLNESS, WALKING THE DOG by JANE KENYON
DANCING WITH THE DOG by SUSAN KENNEDY
A FOOL THERE WAS by WILLIAM A. PHELON