Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


AWAKENING by BERNICE LESBIA KENYON

First Line: ALONG THE FRINGES OF THE UPPER LAKE
Last Line: THE STEADY-WINGING SHADOW OF A BIRD.
Subject(s): BIRDS;

ALONG the fringes of the upper lake
Stark maples thicken into grey and rose,
And in the hollows that the beaver knows
The water-weeds turn green, and alders break
Their dust-brown buds to yellow. Rushes shake
Where the shy otter parts them to disclose
His once familiar pathway, as he goes
Across the bank, where dry twigs snap and break.
In open lands, and fields a-dance with shade,
Dappled in moving patterns of the sky,
Dry stubble-stalks are swaying, faintly stirred
By light uncertain winds; and in the glade
Across a haze of sun there pulses by
The steady-winging shadow of a bird.



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