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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
OUTSIDE, by ISABEL ECCLESTONE MACKAY Poet's Biography
First Line: When the night fire flares up red
Last Line: Outside?
Subject(s): Children; Childhood
First Line: When the night fire flares up red
Last Line: Outside?
Subject(s): Children; Childhood
WHEN the night fire flares up red
Into the chimney wide,
And I am s'posed to be in bed,
I like to slip and hide
Behind the back of father's chair
And, when they quite forget I'm there,
I like to think
Of how the night is black as ink
Outside!
The poplar trees down in the park,
All day so stiff with pride,
Stand shivering inside the dark
Quite limp and terrified—
I'd like to call out "Boo!" beneath,
And listen to their chatt'ry teeth,
But—I don't know—
To do it I should have to go
Outside!
Our black cat with her tail all still
Is watching, yellow-eyed,
Something beyond the window-sill
That no one else has spied.
Soon she will go with padding feet
Out through the door and down the street.
I think she knows
What she won't tell—except to those
Outside!
Of course there aren't witches now
(What was that voice that cried?)
I don't mind witches anyhow
(Was that the wind that sighed?)
For two brass pins I'd run around
The house and through the croquet ground—
I'm brave myself—
But what if I should scare some elf
Outside?
Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!
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THE THREE CHILDREN by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN
CHILDREN SELECTING BOOKS IN A LIBRARY by RANDALL JARRELL
COME TO THE STONE ... by RANDALL JARRELL
THE LOST WORLD by RANDALL JARRELL
A SICK CHILD by RANDALL JARRELL
CONTINENT'S END by ROBINSON JEFFERS
ON THE DEATH OF FRIENDS IN CHILDHOOD by DONALD JUSTICE
THE POET AT SEVEN by DONALD JUSTICE
A CHRISTMAS CHILD by ISABEL ECCLESTONE MACKAY