Classic and Contemporary Poetry
EVENING ON THE POTOMAC, by RICHARD HOVEY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: The fervid breath of our flushed southern may Last Line: And in the darkening thickets plunge again. Subject(s): Potomac River; Rivers | ||||||||
THE fervid breath of our flushed Southern May Is sweet upon the city's throat and lips, As a lover's whose tired arm slips Listlessly over the shoulder of a queen. Far away The river melts in the unseen. Oh, beautiful Girl-City, how she dips Her feet in the stream With a touch that is half a kiss and half a dream! Her face is very fair, With flowers for smiles and sunlight in her hair. My westland flower-town, how serene she is! Here on this hill from which I look at her, All is still as if a worshipper Left at some shrine his offering. Soft winds kiss My cheek with a slow lingering. A luring whisper where the laurels stir Wiles my heart back to woodland-ward again. But lo, Across the sky the sunset couriers run, And I remain To watch the imperial pageant of the Sun Mock me, an impotent Cortez here below, With splendors of its vaster Mexico. O Eldorado of the templed clouds! O golden city of the western sky! Not like the Spaniard would I storm thy gates; Not like the babe stretch chubby hands and cry To have thee for a toy; but far from crowds, Like my Faun brother in the ferny glen, Peer from the wood's edge while thy glory waits, And in the darkening thickets plunge again. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...RIVERS INTO SEAS by LYNDA HULL TO A WOMAN GLANCING UP FROM THE RIVER by LARRY LEVIS TWO-RIVER LEDGER by KHALED MATTAWA HE FINDS THE MANSION by JAMES MCMICHAEL THE RIVERS by CLARIBEL ALEGRIA VERMILION FLYCATCHER, SAN PEDRO RIVER, ARIZONA by MARGARET ATWOOD THE PORCH OVER THE RIVER by WENDELL BERRY THE RIVER BRIDGED AND FORGOT by WENDELL BERRY |
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