Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

POET'S HUNTING SONG by HELEN FRAZEE-BOWER

First Line: JUST NOW THERE WAS A WORD: A SILVER FOX
Last Line: AND WATCH THE CURIOUS STROKE HIM IN HIS CAGE.
Subject(s): MEMORY;
Just now there was a word: a silver fox
That leapt the mind's high hedge and sped away.
Be after him, my thought! (Strange paradox,
That he should come at all if not to stay.)
Now, every crying hound of memory,
Circle the woods, where speech is wont to hide.
And find my sleek and silken word for me --
The sly young fox that lately left my side.

Hurtle him back, the while I make a thong
Of strong emotions, grown articulate,
To tie the tiny trickster to a song;
Where I can sit and muse upon his fate,
Or shut him up within the printed page --
And watch the curious stroke him in his cage.



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