Ancient Of Days
It's Epsom but could pass for Epping,
New Forest or Dumbarton Wood.
There's ivy of the thickest
English sort not commonly
found in America; sprigs
growing across open ground
mantling it.
Shiny to the eye, soft encircling
the touch, I am reminded of blue waters,
green grass Blake's Ancient of Days:
an old man's beard stepping from the trees,
Spanish Moss so unearthly it covers a
southern forest.
There are tendrils in herbal potions of unbroken lips that move
across both dew and clover.
I see Druids reciting psalms, weaving ivy along garlands
of oak, the incantation set before a British lake -
briar baskets carrying the trusting dead;
food offerings transversing the waters.
The ivy calls to mind all these things,
just a sprig held tightly yet aromatic beyond imagining,
my timorous English settlers seen thru a spate of leaves
clutching their holly on Roanoke island.
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on April 03, 2023
- 46 sec read
- 36 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AX XXBXX ABBBXX XX BXXB BABX |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 870 |
Words | 152 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 5, 6, 2, 4, 4 |
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"Ancient Of Days" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/56385/ancient-of-days>.
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