A poem should be palpable and mute
As a globed fruit,
Dumb
As old medallions to the thumb,
Silent as the sleeve-worn stone
Of casement ledges where the moss has grown-
A poem should be wordless
As the flight of birds.
*
A poem should be motionless in time
As the moon climbs,
Leaving, as the moon releases
Twig by twig the night-entangled trees,
Leaving, as the moon behind the winter leaves,
Memory by memory the mind-
A poem should be motionless in time
As the moon climbs.
*
A poem should be equal to:
Not true.
For all the history of grief
An empty doorway and a maple leaf.
For love
The leaning grasses and two lights above the sea-
A poem should not mean
But be.
Ars Poetica
Archibald Macleish
(1)
Poem topics: grief, history, night, sea, winter, doorway, fruit, flight, mind, silent, true, equal, stone, love, memory, time, I love you, moon, Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
Previous Poem
The End Of The World Poem>>
Write your comment about Ars Poetica poem by Archibald Macleish
Best Poems of Archibald Macleish