Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Four Trees — opon a solitary Acre —
Four Trees — opon a solitary Acre —
Without Design
Or Order, or Apparent Action —
Maintain —
The Sun — opon a Morning meets them —
The Wind —
No nearer Neighbor — have they —
But God —
The Acre — gives them — Place —
They — Him — Attention of Passer by —
Of Shadow, or of Squirrel, haply —
Or Boy —
What Deed is Their's unto the General Nature —
What Plan
They severally — retard — or further —
Unknown —
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Thank you! This poem has always struck me as important and unsettling. How is it that the four trees maintain, without order or design? They meet, and they give attention- they give relation, and then they slip beyond the poet's grasp. Its like she speaks more about her inability to order them, and yet in doing so she recognizes them. Somehow this is all very important-- the relation to the natural world, our sense of being at home and yet being a stranger in the world-- even our ethical relations to one another-- knowing and yet unknowing, relating and meeting and furthering unknowledge. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteI like to compare this one to "As Imperceptibly as Grief" where the summer escapes "Into the Beautiful."
Thanks again, and greeting you from afar.