Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE CHIMNEY AFIRE, by JOHN FREEMAN Poet's Biography First Line: Like a chimney afire Last Line: The clamour of owlet throats. Subject(s): Moon | ||||||||
LIKE a chimney afire The Moon leapt sudden from under the eaves Of the fir-brow'd hill; Smoky at first, then, rising higher, Rosier, then yellow as leaves In the months' decay and chill; And, at last, clear, clear shining Above clay-hooded mastodons reclining All down the sloping East. And now was she the serene Mother of gods, Or a shield against some god hot from the feast, Or an altar of psalms and maiden supplications, Dread shrine of kneeling distant nations, Or a lamp to him that, staring, nods Nightly from yon Tower Hour after weary limping hour; And now, now none of these, For an Owl flurrying softly hither and thither Crosses the Moon's mild face and returns and away Again in a wailing wild unease, Plucking at the lovely rondure of silver'd decay, This one of a million glittering motes Speckling an infinite bay, This mother of visions and divinities, Plucking, plucking from this ancient corruption Some festering sweet morsel to appease The clamour of owlet throats. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...POEM TO TAKE BACK THE NIGHT by JUNE JORDAN THE MOON AND THE SPECTATOR by LEONIE ADAMS FULL MOON by KARLE WILSON BAKER NO MORE OF THE MOON by MORRIS GILBERT BISHOP THE DEPARTURE by DENISE LEVERTOV |
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