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"It's all very well to dream of a dove that saves,
Picasso's or the Pope's
The one that annually coos in Our Lady's ear
Half the world's hopes,"
Anthony Hecht (b. 1923), U.S. poet. Birdwatchers of America (l. 1-4). . .
New Oxford Book of American Verse, The. Richard Ellmann, ed. (1976) Oxford University Press. |
"The air was clear. He seemed in ultimate peace
Except that he had no eyes. Rigid and bright
Upon the forehead, furred
With a light frost, crouched an outrageous bird."
Anthony Hecht (b. 1923), U.S. poet. Birdwatchers of America (l. 21-24). . .
New Oxford Book of American Verse, The. Richard Ellmann, ed. (1976) Oxford University Press. |
"And in their fairy tales
The warty giant and witch
Get sealed in doorless jails
And the match-girl strikes it rich."
Anthony Hecht (b. 1923), U.S. poet. It Out-Herods Herod. Pray You, Avoid It (l. 5-8). . .
Oxford Book of Contemporary Verse, The, 1945-1980. D. J. Enright, comp. (1980) Oxford University Press. |
"And that their sleep be sound
I say this childermas
Who could not, at one time,
Have saved them from the gas."
Anthony Hecht (b. 1923), U.S. poet. It Out-Herods Herod. Pray You, Avoid It (l. 33-36). . .
Oxford Book of Contemporary Verse, The, 1945-1980. D. J. Enright, comp. (1980) Oxford University Press. |
"No prayers or incense rose up in those hours
Which grew to be years, and every day came mute
Ghosts from the ovens, sitting through crisp air,
And settled upon his eyes in a black soot."
Anthony Hecht (b. 1923), U.S. poet. "More Light! More Light!" (L. 29-32). . .
Oxford Book of War Poetry, The. Jon Stallworthy, ed. (1984) Oxford University Press. |
"Composed in the Tower before his execution
These moving verses, and being brought at that time
Painfully to the stake, submitted, declaring thus:
"I implore my God to witness that I have made no crime.""
Anthony Hecht (b. 1923), U.S. poet. "More Light! More Light!" (L. 1-4). . .
Oxford Book of War Poetry, The. Jon Stallworthy, ed. (1984) Oxford University Press. |
"Samuel Sewall, in a world of wigs,
Flouted opinion in his personal hair;
For foppery he gave not any figs,
But in his right and honor took the air."
Anthony Hecht (b. 1923), U.S. poet. Samuel Sewall (l. 1-4). . .
Norton Book of Light Verse, The. Russell Baker, ed. (1986) W. W. Norton & Company. |
"But all the time he was talking she had in mind
The notion of what his whiskers would feel like
On the back of her neck."
Anthony Hecht (b. 1923), U.S. poet. The Dover Bitch (l. 9-11). . .
Oxford Book of American Light Verse, The. William Harmon, ed. (1979) Oxford University Press. |
"So there stood Matthew Arnold and this girl
With the cliffs of England crumbling away behind them,
And he said to her, "Try to be true to me,
And I'll do the same for you, for things are bad
All over, etc., etc.""
Anthony Hecht (b. 1923), U.S. poet. The Dover Bitch (l. 1-5). . .
Oxford Book of American Light Verse, The. William Harmon, ed. (1979) Oxford University Press. |
"A great black presence beats its wings in wrath.
Above the boneyard burn its golden eyes.
Some small grey fur is pulsing in its grip."
Anthony Hecht (b. 1923), U.S. poet. The End of the Weekend (l. 24-26). . .
Faber Book of Modern Verse, The. Michael Roberts, ed. (4th ed. revised by Peter Porter, 1982) Faber and Faber. |
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