Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, DISCOVERY, by RUTH AUGHILTREE


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

DISCOVERY, by                    
First Line: All the long day they hunted for their sheep
Last Line: Not sheep -- but palaces enchanted, tower on tower.
Subject(s): Sheep


All the long day they hunted for their sheep,
All the long night through their uneasy sleep
They strained to catch the faintest little call
Where no call was, save wind and waterfall
Sounding and singing through their dreams till dawn.

Trackless the waste by which they climbed, a place
Where never footfall could have left its trace,
Yet still they climbed, still searching, searching on,
For their lost flock had passed that way and gone
Up to the heights above the Mesa wall.

The faintest tinkle of a tiny bell,
The faintest crying -- tokens these that tell
Of some small lamb fallen beside the trail.
Around the cliff they pushed, they could not fail
To find at last those wandering sheep they sought.

The sun had set. Far in the velvet sky
Hung low the evening star. Water fell close by,
And once again they heard the little bell; around
The last long corner peered in hope, and found
Not sheep -- but palaces enchanted, tower on tower.





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