Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE THRALL, by CLINTON SCOLLARD


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE THRALL, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Aloof, I heard / the rise and dip note of the oven-bird
Last Line: It doth not hold me thrall!
Subject(s): Spring


ALOOF, I heard
The rise and dip note of the oven-bird,
Word upon buoyant word,
Rapt music, blithe as is the blossoming
Of frail hepaticas, rills dropped a-wing,
Or from a bough a-swing
In the warm lyric south-wind. Little leaves
Rippled in soft green laughter. Belted thieves,
Bent upon honey-plunder, made fleet chase
From bloom to bloom, --
The cloud-white trillium and squirrel's-corn,
The seal-o'-Solomon, golden as the morn, --
With breezy boom,
Or low and dreamy bass.
Then swift I said,
Of all earth's loveliness enamored,
"Here is my place!
Here will I linger and gain lasting grace
From all this sweet renewal, -- the old lure
Of youth and joy! I that am spent and poor
Will straight grow rich and hale;
And there shall naught avail
To filch from me my wealth;
No creeping stealth
Shall grasp it in the watches of the night!"
Hence I abide.
Oh, ye who would win healing, heart-delight,
Come ye and look and list, revivified!
Slough thy gray wintry mood!
Clasp hands with life renewed!
Bird-voice, brook-babble, blossom-murmurs, kind
Touch of the whispering wind,
Grass-crinkle, bud-unfolding, each and all,
Have been, and are, and will be mine uplifting.
Earth hath no vernal entity so small,
So subtle, or so shifting,
It doth not hold me thrall!





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