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Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Searching... Author: MITCHELL, STEPHEN Matches Found: 91 Mitchell, Stephen Poet's Biography 91 poems available by this author ABRAHAM First Line: What had become very clear to him that night on the fast Last Line: Grope in the blinding light, toward a goal he could be sure of %never reaching ACHILLES AND THE TORTOISE First Line: Ready, set at their respective starting places, staring into the distance Last Line: Maybe if I tried something different,' achilles says. 'maybe %a new pair of shoes.' ADAM IN LOVE First Line: The earfth around him: he within his life Last Line: Flickering from the distance like a glowworm ANNUNCIATION First Line: He tiptoes into the room almost as if he were an intruder. Then Last Line: Will remember the message, in a little while. In a few more minutes. %but not just now AT THE TOP OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE First Line: Soon it will be dawn, and I wait up here with a heavy heart. I am Last Line: Wings are folded behind me. A tear, permanent, hangs from the %corner of my eye, like a tiny almond AT THE TOP OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE First Line: Soon it will be dawn, and I wait up here with a heavy heart AT THE ZOO First Line: Such big sweet ugly faces. There are many visitors, so the youngest Last Line: Two o'clock arrives, and the keepers with the wheelbarrows of %beef. %so. It has come to this BAAL SHEM TOV First Line: All the old metaphors Last Line: You had to pull them up quickly, %quickly, from far away BALDR First Line: He stands before the council of the gods, invulnerable in his Last Line: Goods look on in horror? Why do we walk under the green sprig at %christmastide expecting not betray BAMBOO Poem Text First Line: Sometimes I have spent hours face to face with a single stalk Subject(s): Bamboo BAMBOO First Line: Sometimes I have spent hours face to face with a single stalk Last Line: Down the lines of verse, and with one final, half-dry flourish: %signs my name Subject(s): Bamboo BINDING OF ISAAC First Line: Abraham is caught in a dilemma. In parable, he must sacrifice his Last Line: Onto his right arm, it will take much hard work, many hundreds %of rebirths, before he is ready to h BRIEF THEODICY First Line: Of all human comestibles, the lemon is most nearly allied to the Last Line: Thus, lemon juice is the traditional cure for scurvy and %optimism BROOMS First Line: Brooms make excellent dance partners. Though they are bald Last Line: Toes, they will always apologize by simultaneously dusting off %your shoe CASSANDRA Poem Text First Line: Nobody can stand her anymore. She has become obsessed, boring Last Line: Up in a cheap hotel room, in the dark, she writhes with them, whispering nuclear holocaust, acid rai Subject(s): Cassandra (mythology) CASSANDRA First Line: Nobody can stand her anymore. She has become obsessed, boring Last Line: Dark, she writhes with them, whispering nuclear holocaust, acid %rain Subject(s): Cassandra CASSANDRA First Line: Nobody can stand her anymore. She has become obsessed CELLO First Line: It rests inside its close-fitting red-velvet-lined case the way Last Line: Leans back and waits for the bow to be drawn across, for the%resonance to fill it completely CERBERUS First Line: His three fierce mastiff-heads bloodcurdlingly bark. No spirit Last Line: They are no longer living in the trivial, safe universe of their %desires. Everything here is real CHERRY PLUMS First Line: They grow all over berkeley, along the sidewalks, and start to Last Line: Well I don't care. I call them plum cherries.' %the title of this parable is 'plum cherries.' CINDERELLA Poem Text First Line: Cindreella, the soul, sits among the ashes Subject(s): Cinderella CINDERELLA First Line: Cinderella, the soul, sits among the ashes. She is depressed, as Last Line: It is like the man in the mirror, says the fairy godmother. No %once can pull him out but himself COURTESY First Line: No, it is not a matter of bows and fine speeches. We've had Last Line: Battle, taking the lute from under the arm of his sleeping boy- %servant, gently DR. JOHNSON Poem Text First Line: Something I left behind Last Line: Is no farther off than a sigh Subject(s): Johnson, Samuel (1709-1784) DR. JOHNSON First Line: Something I left behind Last Line: We'll be leaving in a moment. London %is no farther off than a sigh Subject(s): Johnson, Samuel (1709-1784) EVOLUTION First Line: First came eohippus, the dawn horse, dog-sized and equable Last Line: Became the sea horse. The other grew wings. Known as the pegasus, %it occasionally gives free rides FAUST First Line: Faust begins by cutting into a circle. This, given the purity of his Last Line: He does not enter the world as the frist adam entered eve. %there are other ways of knowing FOUR WATERCOLORS BY TAO-CHI, SELS FRANCIS First Line: Blessed are the poor in spirit Last Line: Of the moment, like children looking %down from the bedroom window, %waving hello, goodbye FREUD First Line: Your friend the sphinx had promised you Last Line: Who are you? Where do you come from? %why do you feel afraid? FROG PRINCE First Line: Gorgeous, charming, rich (and spiritually mature as well), the Last Line: Easily have slipped out of her impatient grasp. But he knew the %stakes. It was now or never. And he GIFT First Line: Besides the small gift that he delighted in giving her when the Last Line: Quietest moments, he could see it in her eyes, reflected as in a medium %of supreme clarity and love GOOD SAMARITAN ET AL. First Line: The priest, the levite, the samaritan, and the man who fell Last Line: Aside, for a parable's sake. And without the parable, I would %never have been saved Subject(s): Good Samaritan GREAT-GRANDFATHER CHANG First Line: At last! An ancestor who understands Last Line: Read: 'whatever you require, the only one who can give it is %yourself.' both faces are smiling HALO THAT WOULD NOT LIGHT First Line: He had tried everything: new batteries, new bulb, a new off-and- Last Line: Slightly tilted to one side, at the rakish angle at which a gentleman %might wear a boater HITLER IN SHEOL First Line: I needed to write a parable about hitler. My friend said 'don't.' Last Line: He said, 'you must crawl to the very center of evil before you %can see the stars.' HUANG-PO First Line: Closer than we can know Last Line: And too true to be good, its image %flashes everywhere we turn. %marvelous! - tut, tut, it's nothing IN THE GARDEN First Line: Eve bites into the fruit. Suddenly she realizes that she is naked Last Line: Knowledge?!' laughs the serpent. 'this fruit is from the tree %of life.' IRON HANDS First Line: Under your mother's pillow,' he said. 'that's where the key is Last Line: Going to give up that golden ball. %both of us meant business ISAIAH First Line: The seraphim had been almost too polite. They had nodded Last Line: Spoken question filled the air with dry heat, like a sauna. %already he could smell is flesh burning JACOB AND THE ANGEL First Line: Her arms pinned back, impaled against the night Last Line: The sun had risen. He could let her go JEROME Poem Text First Line: In durer's engraving Last Line: Dozes, with half-closed eyes Subject(s): Durer, Albrecht (1471-1528); Jerome, Saint (347-419) JEROME First Line: In durer's engraving Subject(s): Durer, Albrecht (1471-1528); Jerome, Saint (347-419) JOB First Line: During the first stage of suffering, job's companion was a worm Last Line: Has not diminished. A miracle is no cure for bad breath Subject(s): Job (bible) JONAH First Line: After the first few hours he came to feel quite at ease inside the Last Line: Plight, himself, resonating through the vault: the strange, %gurgling, long-breathed-out, beautiful KAFKA Poem Text First Line: Whoever has, even once, glimpsed Last Line: Cannot be content with anything / less Subject(s): Kafka, Franz (1883-1924) KAFKA First Line: Whoever has, even once, glimpsed Last Line: That was once too strong for your eyes, %you knew that they didn't matter. %they didn't matter in th Subject(s): Kafka, Franz (1883-1924) KINGDOM OF HEAVEN First Line: Ooh, make it a sad story,' the children said. 'make it a sad, sad Last Line: All right,' I said. 'once there was a needle, and every time it %pierced the eyes ...' LAKESIDE GEESE Poem Text First Line: Desoltaion. The forest's bones Subject(s): Cold; Geese; Paintings & Painters LAKESIDE GEESE First Line: Desolation. The forest's bones. Blunt strokes of gray and black Last Line: Stands halfway across the frail wooden bridge. %when it is cold, you die of cold LAZARUS First Line: He had almost reached the end of the tunnel when he eard his Last Line: Body, left behind so gratefully, which had already begun to stink. %greater love has no man LEFT HAND First Line: He is the awkward onw, the fool, the younger brother. Can't Last Line: Perhaps that is why he has been chose to wear the golden circle, %promise of all fulfillment: the ma LONG ENGAGEMENT First Line: She was a leo, he (although he despised astrology) was a unicorn Last Line: In the evening they would lie down together as peaceably as in %isaiah's garden MANJUSHRI First Line: My wife and my old zen master both were born at the cusp of july Last Line: Living buddhas are a dime a dozen,' the lion thinks, 'but a %good wooden buddha is hard to find.' MATHEMATICS First Line: Any place you look is an entrance. The equals-sign. That fabulous Last Line: Beautiful a solution is, the truer. Don't worry, the technicians %will find a use for it. Let x stan MEISTER ECKHART First Line: God, for the love of god Last Line: How singular! I am nothing. %I am. I will never die METAPHOR LEFT OUT IN THE COLD First Line: Coleridge says that human beings are divided into platonists and Last Line: O pig of god, that takest away the sins of the world! MONTAIGNE First Line: The beginning of wisdom is to know Last Line: Half-jewish frenchman who at first %liked radishes; then didn't; then wound up %liking them after al NAMING THE ANIMALS First Line: The first few were east. The dog looked just like a 'dog,' the cat Last Line: Capybara. Pangolin. Gnu. %('is that spelled n-u?' god asked.%'g-n-u.') Subject(s): Animals; Names NARCISSUS First Line: It was not the image of his own face that transfixed him as he bent Last Line: Would be able to see straight through the bottom. And at that %moment, he knew, the image would disa ORCHID ABD ROCK Poem Text First Line: I have painted them in the same mild tones of grayish green Subject(s): Paintings & Painters; Orchids ORCHID AND ROCK First Line: I have painted them in the same mild tones of grayish green Last Line: When speech comes from a quiet heart, it has the strength of%the orchid, and the fragrance of rock ORPHEUS Poem Text First Line: Pluto sits on his ebony throne enchanted. 'beautiful,' he sighs Last Line: She turns to the king, “yes, darling, “ she says, “let them go.” Subject(s): Mythology - Classical; Orpheus ORPHEUS First Line: Pluto sits on his ebony throne enchanted. 'beautiful,' he sighs Last Line: She turns to the king. 'yes, darling,' she says. 'let them go' Subject(s): Mythology - Classical; Orpheus PALM READING First Line: Slowly, not tentatively, the lines move out from their center Last Line: The moon rises %out of the deepest flesh %and the whole body%is illumined %in its night PARABLE OF THE SOWER First Line: A sower went forth to sow. Some of his seeds fell upon stony Last Line: But, my dear, what kind of seeds do you think we're talking %about?' PASCAL'S VISION First Line: Weaned too fast and permitted to grow up among numbers, the Subject(s): Pascal, Blaise (1623-1662) PASCAL'S VISION First Line: Weaned too fast and permitted to grow up among numbers, the Last Line: Knows: that nothing is ever suffered in plural. %there is only one body. Only one death Subject(s): Pascal, Blaise (1623-1662) PATIENCE First Line: She used to show her guests an anchor, an hourglass, a key. That Last Line: Up the winding stairs to her bedroom. How the door opened by %itself, and her soft, fragrant voice s PAUL OF TARSUS First Line: Stepping from the clear air of the gospel Last Line: To see him, face to face, %as he sips the wind and hands you%a piece of the bread: take; %eat; this PENELOPE Poem Text First Line: He had heard from her several times during his long absence Last Line: Faithful to him, body and heart, as he was to her in his heart alone, alas Subject(s): Mythology - Classical; Penelope (mythology); Ulysses; Odysseus PENELOPE First Line: He had heard from her several times during his long absence Last Line: He stands there for a long time before letting himself plunge to %the bottom of her eyes Subject(s): Mythology - Classical; Penelope (mythology); Ulysses PICASSO First Line: A large man with a head of a bull Last Line: Its marble lips, slightly parted, seem %to be telling him something Subject(s): Picasso, Pablo (1881-1973) PINOCCHIO First Line: Everything would have been fine if he had been an obedient puppet Last Line: Being made flesh. And he could, almost, see the wonder in her %eyes PRODIGAL SON First Line: Sometimes, after a day among the swine, he would be afraid to lie Last Line: Had been stopped at the crossroads of the horrible and the sacred RELUCTANT BODHISATTVA First Line: Seven or eight years before, she had been awakened in the middle Last Line: Them, blessed with a name and form, complete, never having to %learn to surrender SENSE OF PROPORTION First Line: There are at least one hundred billion galaxies in the universe Last Line: From most points of view, the green earth is smaller than an%electron. %all this is happening within SINAI First Line: Everyone knows what happened at the bottom of mount sinai Last Line: But aleph is a silent letter. %rabbi yosi said, just so. SPINOZA Poem Text First Line: For the small boy lying in bed Last Line: Are as difficult as they are rare Subject(s): Spinoza, Baruch (1632-1677) SPINOZA First Line: For the small boy lying in bed Subject(s): Spinoza, Baruch (1632-1677) SPIRITUAL TEACHING First Line: These fellows with the third-chakra problems, who think they Last Line: A monk bowed and asked, 'then how do you teach people?' %chao-chou said, 'buddha! Buddha!' ST. INEPTUS First Line: Born in third-century illyria, he soon established a reputation Last Line: Flammable in the vicinity). His intercession is said to do more %good than harm TAO-CHI First Line: Dressed in his long, white, long-sleeved Last Line: Suddenly, with a shock, he realizes, %that nothing in this life - nothing - %nothing - is ever lost THE GOOD SAMARITAN ET AL. Poem Text First Line: The priest, the levite, the samaritan, and the man who fell Subject(s): Good Samaritan THEY MYTH OF SISYPHUS First Line: We tend to think of sisyphus as a tragic hero, condemned by the Last Line: Aside, let the rock hurtle to the bottom, and go home. %tragedy is the inertial force of the mind THROUGH THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE First Line: The camel catches his breath, wipes the sweat from his brow. It Last Line: It is not that such things are possible,' the camel thinks, %smiling. 'but such things are possible VERMEER Poem Text First Line: She stands by the table, poised Subject(s): Vermeer, Jan (1632-1675) VERMEER First Line: She stands by the table, poised Last Line: As though the light at the window %were a newborn child %andher arms open enough %to hold it on her Subject(s): Vermeer, Jan (1632-1675) WILDERNESS COTTAGE First Line: They say that I honor tradition, that I'm a worthy disciple. But I Last Line: Spirit of nature joins with my spirit, both are transformed.So %that, in the end, everthing leads ba YESHU OF NAZARETH First Line: You came to me when I was nine Last Line: Open-eyed, leaving behind %everything. As if you were walking %into the final room %of your own hous ZEN MASTER First Line: Three feet tall, he sits cross-legged inside a wooden frame in a Last Line: Even the trace of a smile. But the smile is there, somewhere, %shining in the heaven of his face lik |
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