Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE LETTER by AMY LOWELL

Poem Explanation Poet Analysis

First Line: LITTLE CRAMPED WORDS SCRAWLING ALL OVER THE PAPER
Last Line: OF THE GREAT MOON.
Subject(s): DESIRE; LETTERS;
Little cramped words scrawling all over the paper
Like draggled fly's legs,
What can you tell of the flaring moon
Through the oak leaves?
Or of my uncurtained window and the bare floor
Spattered with moonlight?
Your silly quirks and twists have nothing in them
Of blossoming hawthorns,
And this paper is dull, crisp, smooth, virgin of loveliness
Beneath my hand.

I am tired, Beloved, of chafing against my heart against
The want of you;
Of squeezing it into little inkdrops,
And posting it.
And I scald alone, here, under the fire
Of the great moon.



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