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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
IN THE DELTA, by WILLIAM ALEXANDER PERCY Poet's Biography First Line: The river country's wide and flat Last Line: A pilgrim and our guest. | |||
The river country's wide and flat And blurred ash-blue with sun, And there all work is dreams come true, All dreams are work begun. The silted river made for us The black and mellow soil And taught us as we conquered him Courage and faith and toil. The river town that water-oaks And myrtles hide and bless Has broken every law except The law of kindliness. And north and south and east the fields Of cotton close it round, Where golden billows of the sun Break with no shade or sound. Dear is the town, but in the fields A little house could be, If built with care and auspices, A heart's felicity. O friend, who love not much indoors Or lamp-lit, peopled ways, What of a field and house to pass Our residue of days? We'd learn of fret and labor there A patience that we miss And be content content to be Nor wish nor hope for bliss. With the immense untrammeled sun For brother in the fields And every night the stars' crusade Flashing to us their shields. We'd meet, perhaps, some dusk as we Turned home to well-earned rest, Unhurried Wisdom, tender-eyed, A pilgrim and our guest. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A BALLAD OF ST. SEBASTIEN by WILLIAM ALEXANDER PERCY A BRITTANY LOVE SONG by WILLIAM ALEXANDER PERCY A CANTICLE by WILLIAM ALEXANDER PERCY A HUNGER SONG by WILLIAM ALEXANDER PERCY A LITTLE PAGE'S SONG by WILLIAM ALEXANDER PERCY A PAGE SINGS by WILLIAM ALEXANDER PERCY A PAGE'S ROAD SONG by WILLIAM ALEXANDER PERCY A SEA BALLAD by WILLIAM ALEXANDER PERCY A SEA-BIRD by WILLIAM ALEXANDER PERCY A VOLUNTEER'S GRAVE by WILLIAM ALEXANDER PERCY |
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