Classic and Contemporary Poetry
CUL-DE-SAC, by JOHN ORLEY ALLEN TATE Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: God took a crayon in his hand Last Line: And only god knows what they said. Alternate Author Name(s): Tate, Allen | ||||||||
God took a crayon in his hand And sketched a swift line of distress. Who will remember how they loved? Who will remember happiness? The ringing canticles of hope, The azure rhythms of his brain, Threaded the years that else were blind And lured her back to him again. The largeness of mortality Had met him sometimes in the dusk; The stench of this day's prophecies He perfumed with tomorrow's musk. The apparitions of the wolf Outside the scrim came stealthily; He turned his back; what did it matter? "My mind has thought for only me." His classic taint of otherness, Changing his human blood to wine, Smirked at the doorway of her soul, Which he had told her was a shrine. "Now here upon the laughing fire I lay the gleanings of the years - A mildewed faith, some mutterings - And scorched from passion all the tears. "The white arcana of the just And precious secrets of her kissing Are devils dancing on my lips - All but the craziness is missing; "So many words are they to me, A balancing of pretty sounds - Why does she stay looking at me Like a scared dog with salted wounds?" And hope was gone and demons lingered. Yet was there ever hope in him? I knew him when his teeth were sharp - More sanguine was he but as slim. And so the needle pricked her fingers; She fidgeted but didn't go; A faint forgetfulness of reasons Kept her with him. Time is slow. The ins she saw but not the outs; The pots and pans conspired to rust - It made some difference, I suppose: Her stare was dry as blistered dust. Who will remember happiness? I can recall that they are dead. I know that heaven cracked one day. And only God knows what they said. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BIZARRE by JOHN ORLEY ALLEN TATE BORED TO CHORESIS by JOHN ORLEY ALLEN TATE CALIDUS JUVENTA? by JOHN ORLEY ALLEN TATE EDGES by JOHN ORLEY ALLEN TATE ELEGY FOR EUGENESIS by JOHN ORLEY ALLEN TATE ELEGY ON JEFFERSON DAVIS by JOHN ORLEY ALLEN TATE EUTHANASIA by JOHN ORLEY ALLEN TATE FAIR CUIRASS SHATTERED by JOHN ORLEY ALLEN TATE HITCH YOUR WAGON TO A STAR by JOHN ORLEY ALLEN TATE HORATIAN EPODE TO THE DUCHESS OF MALFI by JOHN ORLEY ALLEN TATE |
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