I love Elizabeth Bishop's poetry. The Moose and The Sandpiper are both masterpieces. But I came across this uncollected sonnet of hers from 1928 and it contains lots that I like about her work: nods to the supernatural, fearless rhymes and lines that "feel" correct even as you wonder what they mean.
The last line of this poem is an example of that! I will never hear thunder the same way...
Thunder
And suddenly the giants tired of play. --
With huge, rough hands they flung the gods' gold balls
And silver harps and mirrors at the walls
Of Heaven, and trod, ashamed, where lay
The loveliness of flowers. Frightened Day
On white feet ran from out the temple halls,
The blundering dark was filled with great war-calls,
And Beauty, shamed, slunk silently away.
Be quiet, little wind among the leaves
That turn pale faces to the coming storm.
Be quiet, little foxes in your lairs,
And birds and mice be still - a giant grieves
For his forgotten might. Hark now the warm
And heavy stumbling down the leaden stairs!
I felt the large, splashing raindrops beginning with the last line.
Thank you for the poetry art you present here, Alistair :)
Yes!
Love this poem, reminds me of when I was a child and someone told me thunder was just the gods playing ten-pin bowling over our heads. Completely reframed it for me into fun.
Also love your poetry blogs. Rumi, Neruda and Mary Oliver are some of my favourites.
💜
A poem that easily conjures up visions of nature with its sounds ❤ (helped by todays very blustery Orkney island weather with mondays laundry day on quick dry)
Last line feels almost familiar: the fox and mice must hide because father -- the sometimes perplexingly angry giant of our childhood -- is coming down the stairs looking for someone to punish. And yes, grieving his "forgotten might."