Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, LEGENDARY PROGRESS, by THOMAS MCGRATH


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

LEGENDARY PROGRESS, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: When, in the darkness of his dream
Last Line: The beast is raging in its time
Subject(s): Change; Explorers; Progress; Exploring; Discovery; Discoverers


When, in the darkness of his dream,
He felt the beast scream in his side
Shuddering to be born again
He crouched in the haunted, shadowy cave.

When twin colossi gripped the East
And rived the mystical world apart,
The rage and fire of a cold star
Kindled the darkness at his heart.

When darkness settled on the West
He heard the beast laugh in his home.
The flesh sickened on the bone.
He sought the cold, monastic heaven.

When the beast was partly freed
Hunger of voyage shook the world.
Toward Magellanic darkness driven
He gyved the mystical world in one.

When to perfection of the One
He drove his cold and careless thought
The beast screamed in his terror of
The frozen heaven of the absolute.

When Progress in its cold machine
Drove all the terror from the wood
The fury chained in the drowsy blood
Convulsed at the metal smell of sin.

When in terror of the beast
He prayed protection for his dream.
A cold chaotic darkness came;
He crouched in the shadowy haunted cave.

Now twin colossi rive the world
The starship drops its furious rime.
The terror out of the darkness comes.
The beast is raging in its time.


Used with the permission of Copper Canyon Press, P.O. Box 271, Port Townsend, WA
98368-0271, www.cc.press.org




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