Posted by zenhussy on December 12, 2003, at 10:22:07
In reply to Re: Is poetry dead? Or is it alive?, posted by Psychopoppy on December 12, 2003, at 3:14:51
> Well, here's one that's eternally alive for me and one of my favorites :
> I know what the caged bird feels.
> Ah me, when the sun is bright on the upland slopes,
> when the wind blows soft through the springing grass
> and the river floats like a sheet of glass,
> when the first bird sings and the first bud ops,
> and the faint perfume from its chalice steals.
> I know what the caged bird feels.
> I know why the caged bird beats his wing
> till its blood is red on the cruel bars,
> for he must fly back to his perch and cling
> when he fain would be on the bow aswing.
> And the blood still throbs in the old, old scars
> and they pulse again with a keener sting.
> I know why he beats his wing.
> I know why the caged bird sings.
> Ah, me, when its wings are bruised and its bosom sore.
> It beats its bars and would be free.
> It's not a carol of joy or glee,
> but a prayer that it sends from its heart's deep core,
> a plea that upward to heaven it flings.
> I know why the caged bird sings.
> Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906)Psychopoppy,
Thank you for sharing Dunbar with the board. Indeed each post is a screaming reminder to me that poetry is not dead. What a lovely poem to keep in one's collection of favourties.
zh
poster:zenhussy
thread:288973
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20031207/msgs/289082.html