Norman MacCaig: "Summer Farm"
There's not much as perfect as Norman MacCaig's "Summer Farm", which my dad showed me years ago, and which still amuses, surprises, buzzes, and pulses.
SUMMER FARM
Straws like tame lightnings lie about the grass
And hang zigzag on hedges. Green as glass
The water in the horse-trough shines.
Nine ducks go wobbling by in two straight lines.
A hen stares at nothing with one eye,
Then picks it up. Out of an empty sky
A swallow falls and, flickering through
The barn, dives up again into the dizzy blue.
I lie, not thinking, in the cool, soft grass,
Afraid of where a thought might take me - as
This grasshopper with plated face
Unfolds his legs and finds himself in space.
Self under self, a pile of selves I stand
Threaded on time, and with metaphysic hand
Lift the farm like a lid and see
Farm within farm, and in the centre, me.
7 comments:
Thanks for reminding me of it.
Which reminds me, obliquely: I read a piece in the weekend press by someone with credentials who was advocating for more Australian content in our English courses. They asked, "Why Frost when we have Wright?"
As if anyone who knew anything about Eng. Lit. would need to ask "Why Frost?", never mind dragging Judith Wright into it.
And now there is recent Miles Franklin award winner, Alexis Wright.. just to confuse further. Though she is a prose writer not a poet..
can anyone tellme what a horse-trough is?
i think it's the 'thing' from which the horse drinks water... lol
Hi,
Can anyone help me with this poem.
I'm having trouble understanding it. It's actually for my A-levels, and I'm having some trouble with understanding what effect the imagery creates for the reader/audience.
Thank you
hey i need help with poem tooo for my a levels!!!]\
You're missing a word! 'As' comes at the end of the line before the grasshopper (completing the rhyme)
Post a Comment