@3Woman, why so pale and thin?@1 A swan and a raven strive within. From battling of beak am I wan and worn; From grappling of white with black wing torn. @3Woman, I hear no clash of wing.@1 In awful silence is done this thing. They droop on my breast when weary of fight -- Swan on the left; raven on the right. The left breast burns like a fiery cross; The right breast blights like frozen moss. If the white the black heart slay, I shall be a nest for day. But if the swan should vanquished be, The raven with night will feather me. Daily I rise and lay me down. I comb my hair and smooth my gown, And, basket on arm, go into town. The neighbors see nothing strange or new: A woman marketing, as they do -- Butter and eggs and a fish or two. For who would dream my narrow clay Could hold the clash of night and day? Or that the birds of boundless space Would strive in such a little place? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...UNWELCOME by MARY ELIZABETH COLERIDGE MY SWEET BROWN GAL by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR IN HOSPITAL: 3. INTERIOR by WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY FORMERLY A SLAVE' (AN IDEALIZED PORTRAIT, BY E. VEDDER) by HERMAN MELVILLE THE LOVER SHOWETH HOW HE IS FORSAKEN by THOMAS WYATT IMPROVEMENT IN THE FORTIES by THOMAS BARNARD |