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FIRST SPRING; INDIAN CREEK, PENNSYLVANIA by HANIEL (CLARK) LONG

Poet Analysis

First Line: THE YELLOW VIOLETS KNOW IT UP THE RILLS
Last Line: AND THOUGH DESIROUS, I HAVE NO DESIRE.
Subject(s): DESIRE; SPRING;

The yellow violets know it up the rills;
And colonies of blood-roots in the groves
Of beeches know it; and the poplar moves
Wise orange tassels; to their crimson tips
The sugar-maples know; and speckled lips
Of bull-frogs, too, gurgling from hour to hour
A chain of sound more silver than a flower.
I know it last, being man; but tiger-heat
Now leaps the rivers from my head to feet,
And standing in a rhododendron jungle
I feel the nerves of lip and finger tingle.
A white mist follows, mixing foam and fire,
And though desirous, I have no desire.



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