Poeticous Logo
en
English Español Français Italiano
Ruffed Grouse, by John James Audubon
W. H. Auden

W. H. Auden

Bird-Language
Trying to understand the words
Uttered on all sides by birds,
I recognize in what I hear
Noises that betoken fear.
 
Thought some of them, I’m certain, must
Stand for rage, bravado, lust,
All other notes that birds employ
Sound like synonyms for joy.

#EnglishWriters

5
Liked or faved by...
Y. J. Hall Lety Dam Camila Andrea Landa Carreño Jules Lynne Erickson
Other works by W. H. Auden...
Friday's Child

He told us we were free to choose But, children as we were, we thoug… “Paternal Love will only use Force in the last resort On those too bumptious to repent.”
Villanelle

Time can say nothing but I told y… Time only knows the price we have… If I could tell you, I would let… If we should weep when clowns put… If we should stumble when musician…
 1
Never Stronger

Again in conversations Speaking of fear And throwing off reserve The voice is nearer But no clearer
Let a Florid Music Praise

Let a florid music praise, The flute and the trumpet, Beauty’s conquest of your face: In that land of flesh and bone, Where from citadels on high
The Shield of Achilles

She looked over his shoulder For vines and olive trees, Marble well-governed cities And ships upon untamed seas, But there on the shining metal
 1
They Wondered Why the Fruit had Been Forbidden

They wondered why the fruit had be… It taught them nothing new. They… But did not listen much when they… They knew exactly what to do outsi… They left. Immediately the memory…
Goethe in the Roman Campagna, by Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein
Who's Who

A shilling life will give you all… How Father beat him, how he ran a… What were the struggles of his you… Made him the greatest figure of hi… Of how he fought, fished, hunted,…
 1
O What Is That Sound

O what is that sound which so thri… Down in the valley drumming, drumm… Only the scarlet soldiers, dear, The soldiers coming. O what is that light I see flashi…
 2
Fish in the Unruffled Lakes

Fish in the unruffled lakes Their swarming colours wear, Swans in the winter air A white perfection have, And the great lion walks
Warm are the Still and Lucky Miles

Warm are the still and lucky miles… White shores of longing stretch aw… A light of recognition fills The whole great day, and bright The tiny world of lovers’ arms.
 1
Moonrise over the Sea, by Caspar David Friedrich
If I Could Tell You

Time will say nothing but I told… Time only knows the price we have… If I could tell you I would let y… If we should weep when clowns put… If we should stumble when musician…
 3
A New Year Greeting

On this day tradition allots to taking stock of our lives, my greetings to all of you, Yeasts… Bacteria, Viruses, Aerobics and Anaerobics:
Seascape

Look, stranger, at this island now The leaping light for your delight… Stand stable here And silent be, That through the channels of the e…
We're Late

Clocks cannot tell our time of day For what event to pray Because we have no time, because We have no time until We know what time we fill,
Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, by Rembrandt
Talking to Myself

Time, we both know, will decay Yo… I’m scared of our divorce: I’ve s… Remember: when Le bon Dieu says t… Please, please, for His sake and… To my piteous Don’ts, but bugger…
 2



Top