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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
HEART'S COUNSEL, by HASSOLDT DAVIS First Line: Look, lord judas, here, in the diligent brain Last Line: A cross's width between. Subject(s): Dishonor; Dreams; Jesus Christ; Judas Iscariot (d. 30 A.d.); Tears; Nightmares | |||
Look, Lord Judas, here, in the diligent brain You bent to squander on that night's rehearsal, Here is no solvent dream, and here again Is no thin kiss wherein to drain The bitter venom of a dream's reversal. You, who have watched the brilliant alchemy Of your own tears transmuted into leaden Scars; you, who have wept and utterly, Lord Judas, drugged the heart of you to deaden The anguished clamor of its treachery . . . Batten the nerve, the worm around the root, The prideful, twinging viper that has gartered Your dreams' most ideal angels. Batten the mute Grey nerve, engorge it with the fruit Which Christ's wan lips have innocently bartered For your allegiance . . . Here in the arms of Magdalene Is balsam, here in the arms of Mary, The world's wife, lies the keen And curious blade-like key to faerie, A man's heart's length from hilt to prong, A cross's width between. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...VARIATIONS: 14 by CONRAD AIKEN VARIATIONS: 18 by CONRAD AIKEN LIVE IT THROUGH by DAVID IGNATOW A DREAM OF GAMES by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN THE DREAM OF WAKING by RANDALL JARRELL APOLOGY FOR BAD DREAMS by ROBINSON JEFFERS |
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