Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE ISLANDS: 7 by HILDA DOOLITTLE

Poet Analysis

First Line: WHAT ARE THE ISLANDS TO ME
Last Line: AND ITS BLEAK SACRIFICE?
Subject(s): BIBLE; GREECE; ISLANDS; GREEKS;
What are the islands to me
if you are lost,
what is Paros to me
if your eyes draw back,
what is Milos
if you take fright of beauty,
terrible, torturous, isolated,
a barren rock?

What is Rhodes, Crete,
what is Paros facing west,
what, white Imbros?

What are the islands to me
if you hesitate,
what is Greece if you draw back
from the terror
and cold splendor of song
and its bleak sacrifice?



Home: PoetryExplorer.net