Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE WOOD MILL, by LUTHER LAURENCE DOWRICK PRATT


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE WOOD MILL, by                    
First Line: ...Zing...Whang...Zing...Whang...Zing
Last Line: Grim rites -- where steam drives hard, and steel is stern.
Alternate Author Name(s): Pratt, Laurence
Subject(s): Mills And Millers


... Zing ... whang ... zing ... whang ... zing;
the snarling drag-saws bare their fangs and rend
the stricken forms of monster trees. They send
their grinning teeth deep, deep. They gloat and sing,
devour their victims piecemeal, whine, and fling
from slavered jaws the sawdust morsels -- spend
their greed on bark and bones. Their chortles blend
in zing ... whang ... zing ... whang ... zing,
To free the soul, ascetics flagellate
and mortify the flesh. To purge the gold
of dross, the searching fires torment and burn.
To make a metamorphosis, their fate
brings hemlocks to the mill where gaunt saws hold
grim rites -- where steam drives hard, and steel is stern.





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