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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE EAGLE FLIES; A SONNET SEQUENCE: 5. THE RED HOUR by CLEMENT WOOD

First Line: THE MAPLE BURNS TO AIRY LEMON LEAVES
Last Line: UNTIL THEIR SLOW WRATH BLAZED BLOODILY OUT.
Subject(s): RED (COLOR);

The maple burns to airy lemon leaves,
With drops of scarlet oozing quaintly through;
The sumach crimsons, under lifted sheaves
Of somber red; wild ivy has a new
Magnificence in lacy threads of fire
Leading from earth to the sky caught in the trees;
The poison ivy is a flaming lyre
To brighten the wind's chilly harmonies.
There is red -- gay red -- on the dogwood; there is red
On the sweetgum; there is dull red on the oak;
The shrubs, the withering herbs, have openly bled
To crimson anger, like a stolid folk
Who stood too long the unobtrusive knout,
Until their slow wrath blazed bloodily out.



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