Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, CAPUT MORTUUM, by BENJAMIN ROSENBAUM


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

CAPUT MORTUUM, by                    
First Line: I often wondered as I sat alone
Last Line: Will pass as shadowing within this place.


I

I OFTEN wondered as I sat alone
Why Someone came to earth, and placed his hands
On dust, and molded it to sycamore
And bird. Why should He want to use, as stone
Is used by sculptors -- for a shape -- these lands?
Why should He make a daisy, hellebore?

A form is but a form, and it must die.
Why build it if it is too frail to live
Eternally? Is it a joy to break
Stiff lines of silence to a mortal cry.
Granted it is. The joy is small. Why give
Infinity for Life which Death can take?

II

I saw a misty silver cloud and thought
How lovely, but it did not satisfy
As I had hoped. I watched low hills at dawn,
Red cyclamen in wind. Why has He wrought
Such things, and man? Men are pearl clouds. We cry
When Time has breathed on them, and they have gone.

If I could work with granite or with brass,
I would not make a statue out of sand;
Nor would I paint on frescoed walls, if I
Could catch the awe of beauty in a mass
Of stronger stuff. Why have a gorgeous land
Where minutes only brittle, break, and die?

III

The worthy die. . . A body charged with flame,
Head poised to majesty, hair thick and long,
Eyes flashing pity, exultation -- all
Emotions. . . all, lips piquant with a name,
Voice silvery and cool with quiet song
Are crushed to residue at Death's mere call.

The residue remains. . . The strong are weak. . .
Beauty is but a snow man who must melt.
If I could have Eternity and Space
And Silence and sheer Love, I would not seek
Other materials. . . All that I have felt
Will pass as shadowing within this place.





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