Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE CARAVAN, by CLINTON SCOLLARD Poet's Biography First Line: From underneath the carob shade Last Line: One bourn for every caravan! Subject(s): Caravans; Middle East; Travel; Near East; Levant; Journeys; Trips | ||||||||
FROM underneath the carob shade, A wavering line of gray and white, I watch it lose its form and fade Like dreams across the face of night. Whither it goes I can but guess; Haply where ruined Tadmor stands, The voiceless haunt of loneliness, Amid the desert's swirling sands; Or toward the Tigris' tawny tide Into that land of ancient thrift Where Bagdad's rich bazaars spread wide, And Haroun's minarets uplift; Or toward the swart Arabian skies, The home of sempiternal calms, Where pilgrims seek their paradise Through Mecca, girdled with its palms. Yet howsoe'er it fares, I fare; In buoyant spirit I am one With those that drink the untrammeled air, The nomad children of the sun. Sandaled with silence, on I press, Rousing before the flower of morn, Through spaces where forgetfulness Seems to have dwelt since Time was born. And when, with soothing touch, comes night After the round of jars and joys, Above the head, in Allah's sight, The hosts of heaven wheel and poise. Throughout the strangely tranquil days I join in prayer and fast and feast, Looking on life with long, slow gaze As does the fatalistic East. And then -- and then -- the goal! -- Ah, me! At last, wherever rangeth man, How well we know that there must be One bourn for every caravan! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...RICHARD, WHAT'S THAT NOISE? by RICHARD HOWARD LOOKING FOR THE GULF MOTEL by RICHARD BLANCO RIVERS INTO SEAS by LYNDA HULL DESTINATIONS by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN THE ONE WHO WAS DIFFERENT by RANDALL JARRELL THE CONFESSION OF ST. JIM-RALPH by DENIS JOHNSON SESTINA: TRAVEL NOTES by WELDON KEES TO H. B. (WITH A BOOK OF VERSE) by MAURICE BARING |
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