Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THISTLEDOWN (SPRING ON THE CAMPAGNE), by WILLIAM SHARP Poet's Biography First Line: Bloweth like snow / from the grey thistles Last Line: The thistledown. Alternate Author Name(s): Macleod, Fiona Subject(s): Flowers; Italy; Spring; Italians | ||||||||
Bloweth like snow From the grey thistles The thistledown: And the fairy-feathers O' the dandelion Are tossed by the breeze Hither and thither: Over the grasses, The seeding grasses Where the poppies shake And the campions waver, And where the clover, Purple and white, Fills leagues with the fragrance Of sunsweet honey; Hither and thither The fairy-feathers O' the dandelion, And white puff-balls O' the thistledown, Merrily dancing, Light on the breeze, Wheeling and sailing, And laughing to scorn The butterflies And the moths of azure; Blowing like snow Or foam o' the sea, Hither and thither Upward and downward. Now for a moment A thistledown On a white ball resteth, Sunbleached and hollow; A human skull Of the ancient days, When Sabines and Latins Made all the land here As red with blood As it now is scarlet With flaming poppies. Now the feathers, O' the dandelion, Like sunlit swan's-down Long tost by the wind O'er the laughter of waters, Are blown like surf On a hidden rock -- A broken arch Of a Roman temple, Where long, long ago, The swarthy priests Worshipped their Gods, The Gods now less than The very dust Whence the green grass springeth! But for a moment, then the wind takes them, Blows them, plays with them, Tosses them high through the gold of the sunshine, Wavers them upward, wavers them downward. Hither and thither among the white butterflies, Over and under the blue-moths and honeybees, Over the leagues of blossoming clover, Purple and white, the sweet-smelling clover, Far o'er the grasses, And grey hanging thistles, Hither and thither Are floating and sailing The fairy-feathers O' the dandelion, Bloweth like snow The joy o' the meadows, The thistledown. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...1851: A MESSAGE TO DENMARK HILL by RICHARD HOWARD TONIGHT THE HEART-SHAPED LEAVES by JAN HELLER LEVI JEWISH GRAVEYARDS, ITALY by PHILIP LEVINE SAILING HOME FROM RAPALLO by ROBERT LOWELL SUNLIGHT AND SHADOW by LISEL MUELLER HOW DUKE VALENTINE CONTRIVED by BASIL BUNTING |
|