PARADOX
by: Willa Cather (1873-1947)
- KNEW them
both upon Miranda's isle,
- Which is of youth a sea-bound seigniory:
- Misshapen Caliban, so seeming vile,
- And Ariel, proud prince of minstrelsy,
- Who did forsake the sunset for my tower
- And like a star above my slumber burned.
- The night was held in silver chains by power
- Of melody, in which all longings yearned--
- Star-grasping youth in one wild strain expressed,
- Tender as dawn, insistent as the tide;
- The heart of night and summer stood confessed.
- I rose aglow and flung the lattice wide--
- Ah, jest of art, what mockery and pang!
- Alack, it was poor Caliban who sang.
"Paradox" is reprinted
from April Twilights. Willa Cather. Boston: The Gorham
Press, 1903. |
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POEMS BY WILLA CATHER |
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