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Parable Of The Dove by Louise Gluck   
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Louise Gluck
Louise Gluck (1943 - / New York / United States)
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Glück was born in New York City and grew up on Long Island. Her father helped invent the X-Acto Knife. Glück graduated in 1961 from George W. Hewlett .. more >>
48 poems of Louise Gluck
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Parable Of The Dove

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  A dove lived in a village.
When it opened its mouth
sweetness came out, sound
like a silver light around
the cherry bough. But
the dove wasn't satisfied.

It saw the villagers
gathered to listen under
the blossoming tree.
It didn't think: I
am higher that they are.
It wanted to wealk among them,
to experience the violence of human feeling,
in part for its song's sake.

So it became human.
It found passion, it found violence,
first conflated, then
as separate emotions
and these were not
contained by music. Thus
its song changed,
the sweet notes of its longing to become human
soured and flattened. Then

the world drew back; the mutant
fell from love
as from the cherry branch,
it fell stained with the bloody
fruit of the tree.

So it is true after all, not merely
a rule of art:
change your form and you change your nature.
And time does this to us.

Louise Gluck


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Read poems about / on: change, tree, song, passion, silver, music, nature, light, world, time

 
  Comments about this poem (Parable Of The Dove by Louise Gluck )
Click here to write your comments about this poem (Parable Of The Dove by Louise Gluck )
 
  Nayyar Shabbir Ahmad  (9/14/2007 2:42:00 AM)

VERY TRUE. 'CHANGE YOUR FORM AND YOU CHANGE YOUR NATURE.'

I'M ENJOYING YOUR POEMS. THANK YOU...NAYYAR
 
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11/28/2009 12:33:49 PM. #.26# You Are Here: Parable Of The Dove by Louise Gluck

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