Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

PREMONITION by WITTER BYNNER

Poet Analysis

First Line: I LAY CLOSE DOWN UPON THE ROCKS
Last Line: AS THE SHADOW OF THE MOTION OF A GRASS-BLADE IN MY PALM.
Subject(s): GRASS;
I lay close down upon the rocks and saw above the shore
A mast-head swaying a little and a grass-blade sway-more --
And which was more substantial and which was more like me,
A mast-head or a grass-blade or the level rock or the sea?
I thought it out a moment and then I thought it in
And then I thought it round about, as far as I have been. . . .
And grass-blades may be limber and halyards may be taut,
But I never thought a thing at all of all the things I thought --
Except what premonition can ever be as calm
As the shadow of the motion of a grass-blade in my palm.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net