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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

PUMAS by GEORGE STERLING

First Line: HUSHED, CRUEL, AMBER-EYED
Last Line: DREAMS HE IS OTHERWISE!
Subject(s): PUMAS;
Hushed, cruel, amber-eyed,
Before the time of the danger of the day,
Or at dusk on the boulder-broken mountainside,
The great cats seek their prey.

Soft-padded, heavy-limbed,
With agate talons chiselled for love or hate,
In desolate places wooded or granite-rimmed,
The great cats seek their mate.

Rippling, as water swerved,
To tangled coverts overshadowed and deep,
Or secret caves where the canyon's wall is curved,
The great cats go for sleep.

Seeking the mate or prey,
Out of the darkness glow the insatiate eyes;
Man, who is made more terrible far than they,
Dreams he is otherwise!



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