Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE IDOL SPEAKS, by ELIOT KAYS STONE First Line: I, who have listened to man's groveling prayers Last Line: And I have spoken who so long was dumb. Subject(s): Idols; Prayer; Soul | ||||||||
I, who have listened to man's groveling prayers These age-long years, shut in this incensed gloom, And heard priests' wailings throbbing up the stairs, Have wished man dust and all the earth his tomb. For each is thinking of himself alone As pompous prayers come tumbling from his lips -- No far horizons stretch from zone to zone, Not one will reach beyond his finger-tips. Is there no out-of-doors where man can breathe A whiff of cleanness for his lungs . . . and soul? Can sun and stars and mountain-heights bequeath None of their calm, point out no lofty goal? Man harries gods for one poor little crumb, And I have spoken who so long was dumb. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE CRUEL FALCON by ROBINSON JEFFERS THE WHOLE SOUL by PHILIP LEVINE I KNOW MY SOUL by CLAUDE MCKAY HONORING THE SAND; IN MEMORY OF JOSEPH CAMPBELL by ROBERT BLY THE CHINESE PEAKS; FOR DONALD HALL by ROBERT BLY THE LIFE OF TOWNS: TOWN OF THE EXHUMATION by ANNE CARSON AT THE ARCH OF TITUS by ELIOT KAYS STONE |
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