Say never the strong heart <br />In the consuming breath <br />Cries out unto the dark <br />The skinny death. <br /> <br />Look! whirring on the rind <br />Of aether a white eagle, <br />Shot out of the mind, <br />The windy apple, burning, <br /> <br />Hears no more, past compass <br />In his topless flight, <br />The apple wormed, blown up <br />By shells of light; <br /> <br />So, faggot of the heart <br />On the cinder day <br />The woman and the man! <br />David and Sybil say <br /> <br />The world has a season <br />Under the world's might: <br />Now in deep autumn- <br />Black apple in the night. <br /> <br />Think not the world spins ever <br />(Only the world has a year) <br />Only the gaunt fierce bird <br />Flies, merciless with fear <br /> <br />Lest air hold him not, <br />Beats up the scaffold of space <br />Sick of the world's rot- <br />God's hideous face.<br /><br />Allen Tate<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-eagle-16/
