Spring 1916
SPRING 1916 by ISAAC ROSENBERG
Slow, rigid, is this masquerade
That passes as through a difficult air;
Heavily---heavily passes.
What has she fed on? Who her table laid
Through the three seasons? What forbidden fare
Ruined her as a mortal lass is?
I played with her two years ago,
Who might be now her own sister in stone,
So altered from her May mien,
When round the pink a necklace of warm snow
Laughed to her throat where my mouth's touch had gone.
How is this, ruined Queen?
Who lured her vivid beauty so
To be that strained chilled thing that moves
So ghastly midst her young brood
Of pregnant shoots that she for men did grow?
Where are the strong men who made these their loves?
Spring! God pity your mood!
| Title |
Spring 1916
|
|---|---|
| Author |
Rosenberg, Isaac (1890-1918)
|
| Item date |
1977
|
| Content | |
| Copyright |
The Isaac Rosenberg Literary Estate. Preliminaries and editorial matter omitted.
|
| Digital repository | |
| Repository name |
ProQuest
|
| Repository address URL | |
| First line |
Slow, rigid, is this masquerade
|
| Publication source |
The Collected Poems of Isaac Rosenberg
|
| Publication editor |
Bottomley, Gordon and Harding, Denys
|
| Publishers |
Chatto & Windus Ltd.
|
| Publication place |
London
|
Collection
Citation
“Spring 1916,” by Rosenberg, Isaac (1890-1918). The Isaac Rosenberg Literary Estate. Preliminaries and editorial matter omitted. via First World War Poetry Digital Archive, accessed April 18, 2024, http://ww1lit.nsms.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/collections/item/3281.
Permitted Use
This item is available for non-commercial educational use under the terms of the Jisc Model Licence. Further details available at: http://ww1lit.nsms.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/permitteduse
