Parable Of The Dove Poem by Louise Gluck

Parable Of The Dove

Rating: 2.6


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.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
P A Noushad 16 October 2020

Greatly written poem, thank you dear friend Louise Gluck.

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Colleen Courtney 14 May 2014

Much truth in this greatly written tale!

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Nayyar Shabbir Ahmad 14 September 2007

VERY TRUE. 'CHANGE YOUR FORM AND YOU CHANGE YOUR NATURE.' I'M ENJOYING YOUR POEMS. THANK YOU...NAYYAR

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Louise Gluck

Louise Gluck

New York / United States
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