Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, IMAGES: 1, by VALERY LARBAUD


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

IMAGES: 1, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: One day, in kharkov, in a crowded slum
Last Line: Level with the lips of the child who had kneeled to drink it.
Subject(s): Kindness; Russia; Thirst; Water; Women; Soviet Union; Russians


I

One day, in Kharkov, in a crowded slum,
(O that southern Russia, where all the women,
With white shawls over their heads, are like Madonnas!)
I saw a young woman returning from the well
Carrying, as they still do there, as they did in Ovid's time,
Two pails hung at the two ends of a board
Balanced across her neck and upon her shoulders.
And I saw a ragged child come up and talk to her.
Then, amiably bending her body to the right,
She tipped till the pail full of fresh water touched the ground
Level with the lips of the child who had kneeled to drink it.





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