Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, BUCOLIC COMEDY: WHY, by EDITH SITWELL


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BUCOLIC COMEDY: WHY, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Noah's granddaughter / sat on his knee
Last Line: "noah said ""damn!"
Subject(s): Noah (bible)


NOAH'S granddaughter
Sat on his knee;
Her questions like water
Gushed ceaselessly.

Her hair's gilded wool
Seems the sun's tent;
Her mouth, a grape golden-cool,
Shows through the rent.

Noah's replies
Are all one hears;
And the small ripples rise
Like listening ass-ears.

"That young giraffe?
His proud elevation
Raises a laugh
To the height of quotation. . . .

The camel's face
Is like Mrs. Grundy's;
He makes that grimace
At working on Sundays.

The kangaroo, chaste,
Of Victorian complexion,
Wears at her waist
Each pledge of affection.

The trunk of the elephant
Is not a box,
The cock's gilded crown can't
Frighten the fox."

* * * * *

The sea-gods talk Greek . . .
But they learn the word "why";
Like leaves of the palm,
Their beards, gilded and dry

Are spreading upon
The blue marble Pompeii
Whose temples are gone
(So the sea seems); Aglae

Asks "What for?" . . . The waves' door
Begins to slam.
Like water the questions pour.
Noah said "Damn!"





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