Another - check out the earlier ones here - by one of most astonishing poetic voices in English of the 20th century, Theodore Roethke. His poems shift the ground beneath how we see things: I always go away with images I never imagined possible. In this one, he begins with complexity and ends with such simple words that say and mean so much....
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The Moment
We passed the ice of pain,
And came to a dark ravine,
And there we sang with the sea;
The wide, the bleak abyss
Shifted with our slow kiss.
Space struggled with time;
the gong of midnight struck
The naked absolute.
Sound, silence sang as one.
All flowed: without, within;
Body met body, we
Created what’s to be.
What else to say? –
We end in joy.
Theodore Roethke - American
Monday, May 31, 2010
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2 comments:
One of my favorite poems. Well chosen.
Want to point out, however, that Theodore Roethke did not commit suicide as your introduction to this poem states. He had a heart attack while swimming and died from complications shortly after.
ethan0807@gmail.com
You are correct and I corrected. I was thinking about Berryman, who committed suicide when I was an undergrad. Thank you for the "catch".
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