Nature
From the Window
From War's Embers, and Other Verses (1919)
Tall poplars in the sun
Are quivering, and planes,
Forgetting the day gone,
Its cold un-August rains;
But with me still remains
The sight of beaten corn,
Crushed flowers and forlorn,
The summer’s wasted gains--
Yet pools in secret lanes
Abrim with heavenly blue
Life’s wonder mirror anew.
I must forget the pains
Of yesterday, and do
Brave things--bring loaded wains
The bare brown meadows through,
I must haste, I must out and run,
Wonder, till my heart drains
Joy’s cup, as in high champagnes
Of blue, where great clouds go on
With white sails free from stains
Full-stretched, on fleckless mains--
With captain’s joy of some proud galleon.
Codex Note
After a rainy day the speaker looks out at poplars and planes and resolves to forget the pains of yesterday. The rhymes all run on the same few sounds, like a ship running before the wind.
Cite this poem
MLA
Gurney, Ivor. “From the Window.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/gurney/9/.
Chicago
Gurney, Ivor. “From the Window.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/gurney/9/.
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