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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE CRANES OF IBYCUS, by EMMA LAZARUS Poet Analysis Poet's Biography
First Line: There was a man who watched the river flow
Last Line: Bore him the greetings of the deathless dead!
Subject(s): Cranes (birds); Ibycus; Mythology - Classical
First Line: There was a man who watched the river flow
Last Line: Bore him the greetings of the deathless dead!
Subject(s): Cranes (birds); Ibycus; Mythology - Classical
THERE was a man who watched the river flow
Past the huge town, one gray November day.
Round him in narrow high-piled streets at play
The boys made merry as they saw him go,
Murmuring half-loud, with eyes upon the stream,
The immortal screed he held within his hand.
For he was walking in an April land
With Faust and Helen. Shadowy as a dream
Was the prose-world, the river and the town.
Wild joy possessed him; through enchanted skies
He saw the cranes of Ibycus swoop down.
He closed the page, he lifted up his eyes,
Lo -- a black line of birds on wavering thread
Bore him the greetings of the deathless dead!
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THE BOOK OF THE DEAD MAN (#11): 1. ABOUT THE DEAD MAN AND MEDUSA by MARVIN BELL
THE BOOK OF THE DEAD MAN (#11): 2. MORE ABOUT THE DEAD MAN AND MEDUSA by MARVIN BELL
THE BIRTH OF VENUS by HAYDEN CARRUTH
LEDA 2: A NOTE ON VISITATIONS by LUCILLE CLIFTON
LEDA 3: A PERSONAL NOTE (RE: VISITATIONS) by LUCILLE CLIFTON