0
   

Anything to do with Augustine?

 
 
Reply Sat 27 Aug, 2011 06:12 am
The content of the poem below seems there is nothing to with Augustine in the title. How to understand it?

Context:

A Gradual Canticle for Augustine


The thinnest bear is awakened in the winter
by the sleep-laughter of locusts,
by the dream-blustering of bees,
by the honeyed scent of desert sands
that the wind carries in her womb
into the distant hills, into the houses of Cedar.

The bear has heard a sure promise
Certain words are edible; they nourish
more than snow heaped upon silver plates
or ice overflowing golden bowls. Chips of ice
from the mouth of a lover are not always better,
Nor a desert dreaming always a mirage.
The rising bear sings a gradual canticle
woven of sand that conquers cities
by a slow cycle. His praise seduces
a passing wind, traveling to the sea
wherein a fish, caught in a careful net,
bears a bear's song in the cool-scented snow.

-Tabitha King

More:
http://www.lynxfeather.net/nest/poetry/gradualcanticle.html
  • Topic Stats
  • Top Replies
  • Link to this Topic
Type: Question • Score: 0 • Views: 979 • Replies: 3
No top replies

 
Region Philbis
 
  1  
Reply Sat 27 Aug, 2011 06:15 am
@oristarA,

it was probably written for someone named Augustine...
0 Replies
 
PUNKEY
 
  2  
Reply Sat 27 Aug, 2011 07:23 am
King - Stephen King's wife, BTW - says of the poem:

"The bear can be seen as a symbol of mankind's troubling and wonderful habit of dreaming the right dreams at the wrong time. Such dreams are difficult because they are inappropriate, but also wonderful in their promise."

0 Replies
 
oristarA
 
  1  
Reply Sat 27 Aug, 2011 08:41 am
Thank you.
What does "in her womb" mean in "that the wind carries in her womb
into the distant hills, into the houses of Cedar?"

Plus, what does "slow cycle" mean there?
0 Replies
 
 

Related Topics

Poims - Favrits - Discussion by edgarblythe
Poetry Wanted: Seasons of a2k. - Discussion by tsarstepan
Night Blooms - Discussion by qwertyportne
It floated there..... - Discussion by Letty
Allen Ginsberg - Discussion by edgarblythe
"Alone" by Edgar Allan Poe - Discussion by Gouki
I'm looking for a poem by Hughes Mearns - Discussion by unluckystar
Spontaneous Poems - Discussion by edgarblythe
 
  1. Forums
  2. » Anything to do with Augustine?
Copyright © 2024 MadLab, LLC :: Terms of Service :: Privacy Policy :: Page generated in 0.03 seconds on 05/08/2024 at 05:12:25