I A REMOTE sky, prolonged to the sea's brim: One rock-point standing buffeted alone, Vexed at its base with a foul beast unknown, Hell-birth of geomaunt and teraphim: A knight, and a winged creature bearing him, Reared at the rock: a woman fettered there, Leaning into the hollow with loose hair And throat let back and heartsick trail of limb. The sky is harsh, and the sea shrewd and salt: Under his lord the griffin-horse ramps blind With rigid wings and tail. The spear's lithe stem Thrills in the roaring of those jaws: behind, That evil length of body chafes at fault. She doth not hear nor see--she knows of them. II CLENCH thine eyes now,--'tis the last instant, girl: Draw in thy senses, set thy knees, and take One breath for all: thy life is keen awake,-- Thou mayst not swoon. Was that the scattered whirl Of its foam drenched thee?--or the waves that curl And split, bleak spray wherein thy temples ache? Or was it his the champion's blood to flake Thy flesh?--or thine own blood's anointing, girl? Now, silence: for the sea's is such a sound As irks not silence; and except the sea, All now is still. Now the dead thing doth cease To writhe, and drifts. He turns to her: and she, Cast from the jaws of Death, remains there, bound, Again a woman in her nakedness. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MY MOTHER, 1930 by KAREN SWENSON DIBDIN'S GHOST by EUGENE FIELD THE CLOSING SCENE by THOMAS BUCHANAN READ FIREFLY; A SONG by ELIZABETH MADOX ROBERTS ASTROPHEL AND STELLA: 24 by PHILIP SIDNEY A PIPER by JAMES SULLIVAN STARKEY |