His restless glance abruptly drew An are halfway around the rim Of earth's mysterious big bowl; After escaping from his soul Colors of sleep were standing by, Their dark-blue shadows all around him. This was the kind of night, he knew, That, for no cause at all, would hound him, And set his spirit prowling, prowling . . . His glance, grown tired of running, flew Suddenly upward to the sky And stopped. The moon gazed back at him; He stared, frowning a little, scowling . . . He had discovered that, despite Supposed advantages of sex, When that white globe was on the wax He could not hope to be immune To lunar influence, nor fight The monthly fullness of the moon. And then he saw some poplar trees All in a line, set close together, Essential to a stiff design In formal-garden symmetries: He counted them, and there were nine. He thought that they were beautiful: Then he began to wonder whether They were, like him, susceptible To that distinct unearthly pull; Some influence, he saw, was making Their leaves keep rustling and shaking Strangely. There seemed to be no breeze. Rest and quiver, rest and quiver, The trembling trees stood close together. Their false propinquity, however, Was not surprising to discover, For he remembered he had heard Poplars would never touch each other No matter how their limbs were stirred. There was a symbol for his shield! Nine poplars on a moonlit field Aloof, fastidious, intense With shuddering self-preference! He had no one near him to touch But the idea consoled him much, And he, whose lot was not like these, Took comfort from the poplar trees. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE TRASH MEN by CHARLES BUKOWSKI A POEM FROM BOULDER RIDGE by JAMES GALVIN THE SACRAL DREAMS OF RAMON FERNANDEZ by JAMES GALVIN THE GARDEN BY MOONLIGHT by AMY LOWELL BACCALAUREATE by ARCHIBALD MACLEISH STUDY FOR A GEOGRAPHICAL TRAIL; 1. SEATTLE by CLARENCE MAJOR WAITER IN A CALIFORNIA VIETNAMESE RESTURANT by CLARENCE MAJOR |