Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE SWALLOW, by JEANNE MARIE BOUVIER DE LA MOTTE GUYON Poet's Biography First Line: I am fond of the swallow - I learn from her flight Last Line: That leads to the dayspring appearing above. Alternate Author Name(s): Guion, De La Mothe; Guyon, Jeanne Marie Bouvieres De La Mothe; Guyon Du Chesnoy Subject(s): Swallows | ||||||||
I AM fond of the swallow;--I learn from her flight, Had I skill to improve it, a lesson of love: How seldom on earth do we see her alight! She dwells in the skies, she is ever above. It is on the wing that she takes her repose, Suspended and poised in the regions of air; 'Tis not in our fields that her sustenance grows, It is winged like herself, 'tis ethereal fare. She comes in the spring, all the summer she stays, And, dreading the cold, still follows the sun:-- So, true to our Love, we should covet his rays, And the place where he shines not, immediately shun. Our light should be Love, and our nourishment prayer; It is dangerous food that we find upon earth: The fruit of this world is beset with a snare, In itself it is hurtful, as vile in its birth. 'Tis rarely, if ever, she settles below, And only when building a nest for her young; Were it not for her brood, she would never bestow A thought upon anything filthy as dung. Let us leave it ourselves ('tis a mortal abode) To bask every moment in infinite Love; Let us fly the dark winter, and follow the road That leads to the Dayspring appearing above. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SIXTH-MONTH SONG IN THE FOOTHILLS by GARY SNYDER SWALLOW FLIGHT by SARA TEASDALE EACH SUMMER'S SWALLOWS by JOHN UPDIKE THE DEPARTURE OF THE SWALLOW by WILLIAM HOWITT THE BLUE SWALLOWS by HOWARD NEMEROV THE CLIFF SWALLOWS by DEBRA NYSTROM A CHILD OF GOD LONGING TO SEE HIM BELOVED by JEANNE MARIE BOUVIER DE LA MOTTE GUYON A FIGURATIVE DESCRIPTION OF ... PROCEDURE OF DIVINE LOVE by JEANNE MARIE BOUVIER DE LA MOTTE GUYON |
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