Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SONGS FOR A WINTER FIRE: 2. JUST WHY, by CALE YOUNG RICE Poet's Biography First Line: Just why the wind more sadly blows Last Line: Believe what I will of naked trees. Subject(s): Trees; Wind; Winter | ||||||||
Just why the wind more sadly blows Through naked trees, I mean some day To ask the winter-throated crows -- And that will prove but folly. For crows won't even tell a man When cold is coming, or a long span Of snow and ice so deep and thick That down on the very bed of the crick The poor pent fish must burrow in mud -- Or do without a livelihood. Or I will take the other way And hear what the ash and elm say About the matter; and they can't tell. Each will merely say that it grieves Because its limbs are orphaned of leaves; And since nobody in need of ruth Ever tells more than half the truth About himself, that won't suffice. So nothing's for it in the end But just to make of the wind a friend -- And if his answer does not please Believe what I will of naked trees. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LOOKING EAST IN THE WINTER by JOHN HOLLANDER WINTER DISTANCES by FANNY HOWE WINTER FORECAST by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN AT WINTER'S EDGE by JUDY JORDAN CHAMBER MUSIC: 34 by JAMES JOYCE A CHARM TO BRING CHILDREN (EGYPT, A.D. 100) by CALE YOUNG RICE |
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