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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
PASTORAL 1 (FIRST VERSION), by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS Poet's Biography
First Line: The old man who goes about
Last Line: Astonish me beyond words!
Subject(s): Old Age
First Line: The old man who goes about
Last Line: Astonish me beyond words!
Subject(s): Old Age
The old man who goes about
Gathering dog lime
Walks in the gutter
Without looking up
And his tread
Is more majestic than
That of the Episcopal minister
Approaching the pulpit
Of a Sunday.
Meanwhile
The little sparrows
Hop ingenuously
About the pavement
Quarreling
Over those things
That interest them
With sharp voices
But we who are wiser
Shut ourselves in
On either hand
And no one knows
Whether we think good
Or evil.
These things
Astonish me beyond words!
Other Poems of Interest...
AN OLD-FASHIONED SONG by JOHN HOLLANDER
AT EIGHTY I CHANGE MY VIEW by DAVID IGNATOW
FAWN'S FOSTER-MOTHER by ROBINSON JEFFERS
THE DEER LAY DOWN THEIR BONES by ROBINSON JEFFERS
OLD BLACK MEN by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON
A WINTER ODE TO THE OLD MEN OF LUMMUS PARK, / MIAMI, FLORIDA by DONALD JUSTICE
AFTER A LINE BY JOHN PEALE BISHOP by DONALD JUSTICE
TO HER BODY, AGAINST TIME by ROBERT KELLY
SONG FROM A COUNTRY FAIR by LEONIE ADAMS