Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SONG OF WHIP-PLAITING, by ANONYMOUS First Line: In the dawn I gathered cedar-boughs Last Line: I am thy woman Subject(s): Whips | ||||||||
In the dawn I gathered cedar-boughs For the plaiting of thy whip. They were wet with sweet drops; They still thought of the night. All alone I shredded cedar-boughs, Green boughs in the pale light, Where the morning meets the sea, And the great mountain stops. Earth was very still. I heard no sound but the whisper of my knife, My black flint knife. It whispered among the white strands of the cedar, Whispered in parting the sweet cords for thy whip. O sweet-smelling juice of cedar Life-ooze of love! My knife drips: Its whisper is the only sound in all the world! Finer than young sea-lions' hairs Are my cedar-strands: They are fine as little roots deep down. (O little roots of cedar Far, far under the bosom of Tsa-Kumts! They have plaited her through with love.) Now, into my love-gift Closely, strongly, I will weave them Little strands of pain! Since I saw thee Standing with thy torch in my doorway, Their little roots are deep in me. In the dawn I gathered cedar-boughs: Sweet, sweet was their odor, They were wet with tears The sweetness will not leave my hands, No, not in salt sea-washings. Tears will not wash away sweetness. I shall have sweet hands for thy service. (Ahsometimesthou wilt be gentle? Little roots of pain are deep, deep in me Since I saw thee standing in my doorway.) I have quenched thy torch I have plaited thy whip. I am thy Woman! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE TALE OF A KANGAROO'S HEAD by A HUGHES MCC. THE BIRCHED SCHOOLBOY: CONCLUSION by ANONYMOUS WHIP TAIL OF THE ONE-EYED CHIEF by LAURENCE LIEBERMAN ART OF WRITING: 9. THE RIDING CROP by LU CHI TIS A LITTLE JOURNEY by ANONYMOUS "'TIS MIDNIGHT, AND THE SETTING SUN" by ANONYMOUS "'TWAS ROLLOG, AND THE MINIM POTES" by ANONYMOUS 1648 : FOR COSSACKS by ANONYMOUS |
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