Rock And Hawk

Robinson Jeffers 1887 (Allegheny) – 1962 (Carmel-by-the-Sea)



Here is a symbol in which
Many high tragic thoughts
Watch their own eyes.

This gray rock, standing tall
On the headland, where the seawind
Lets no tree grow,

Earthquake-proved, and signatured
By ages of storms: on its peak
A falcon has perched.

I think here is your emblem
To hang in the future sky;
Not the cross, not the hive,

But this; bright power, dark peace;
Fierce consciousness joined with final
Disinterestedness;

Life with calm death; the falcon's
Realist eyes and act
Married to the massive

Mysticism of stone,
Which failure cannot cast down
Nor success make proud.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 27, 2023

30 sec read
116

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAX XBX BXB XXX XXA ABX XXB
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 564
Words 101
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Robinson Jeffers

John Robinson Jeffers was an American poet, known for his work about the central California coast. more…

All Robinson Jeffers poems | Robinson Jeffers Books

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