Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


DRIVING HOME THE COWS by LIZETTE WOODWORTH REESE

Poet Analysis

First Line: THE CREEK FLAMES AND THE STUNTED WILLOWS ALL
Last Line: BLACK STANDS THE BARN AGAINST A FLAWLESS SKY.
Subject(s): COWS; FARM LIFE; AGRICULTURE; FARMERS;

THE creek flames and the stunted willows all.
The lad, driving his cows through the last light,
Sees the one elder, newly budded white,
Flush like a rose behind the pasture wall.
Waist deep in gathering mist the briers tall
By the choked pool show spectral to the sight.
Caught in their flying flakes he climbs the height,
Out to the lane keen with the water's brawl.
Boughs stir; late, noisy bees buzz homeward there,
Packed with the wealth of honey-hearted weeds.
From cobwebbed thorn a wren, as he goes by,
A single burst of song sends down the air.
Tinkling, the cows troop through the gusty reeds;
Black stands the barn against a flawless sky.




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