Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE GRAPE-VINE SWING, by WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE GRAPE-VINE SWING, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Lithe and long as the serpent train
Last Line: Does the maiden still swing in thy giant clasp?
Subject(s): Grapes; Trees


LITHE and long as the serpent train,
Springing and clinging from tree to tree,
Now darting upward, now down again,
With a twist and a twirl that are strange to see;
Never took serpent a deadlier hold,
Never the cougar a wilder spring,
Strangling the oak with the boa's fold,
Spanning the beach with the condor's wing.
Yet no foe that we fear to seek, --
The boy leaps wild to thy rude embrace;
Thy bulging arms bear as soft a cheek
As ever on lover's breast found place;
On thy waving train is a playful hold
Thou shalt never to lighter grasp persuade,
While a maiden sits in thy drooping fold,
And swings and sings in the noonday shade!
O giant strange of our Southern woods!
I dream of thee still in the well-known spot,
Though our vessel strains o'er the ocean floods,
And the northern forest beholds thee not;
I think of thee still with a sweet regret,
As the cordage yields to my playful grasp, --
Dost thou spring and cling in our woodlands yet?
Does the maiden still swing in thy giant clasp?




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