Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, RUIN, by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN



Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

RUIN, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Beside the lonely tower I gaze for thee
Last Line: Of knife-like shapes, that only famine find.
Alternate Author Name(s): Blunden, Edmund
Subject(s): Ruins


BESIDE the lonely tower I gaze for thee,
O clear-blue-eyed Tranquillity;
The tower's green tassels wave and beckon me,
And that way hurries the contented bee.
Yet when I come,
To stand in shadow of old martyrdom,
Where stairs uptwisting shatter in the air,
And conscience views blood-streaks and matted hair,
The stone skull-eyes look down most drearily,
And poisonous mood floats from the elder-tree
Where unseen serpents wind.
The eyes look down
Where snouts of tree-anatomies toad-brown
Pierce the green-scurfed pond, and waters lurch
To the submerged fury and fiery-tortured search
Of knife-like shapes, that only famine find.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...



Home: PoetryExplorer.net