Living

Sanary

by Katherine Mansfield 1888–1923

From Poems (1923): Villa Pauline, 1916

Living

Her little hot room looked over the bay
Through a stiff palisade of glinting palms,
And there she would lie in the heat of the day,
Her dark head resting upon her arms,
So quiet, so still, she did not seem
To think, to feel, or even to dream.

The shimmering, blinding web of sea
Hung from the sky, and the spider sun
With busy frightening cruelty
Crawled over the sky and spun and spun.
She could see it still when she shut her eyes,
And the little boats caught in the web like flies.

Down below at this idle hour
Nobody walked in the dusty street
A scent of dying mimosa flower
Lay on the air, but sweet--too sweet.

MLA

Mansfield, Katherine. “Sanary.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/mansfield_k/35/.

Chicago

Mansfield, Katherine. “Sanary.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/mansfield_k/35/.

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