One poem by Archibald MacLeish

1. “Ars Poetica” 

.

Ars Poetica

A poem should be palpable and mute
As a globed fruit,
.
Dumb
As old medallions to the thumb,
.
Silent as the sleeve-worn stone
Of casement ledges where the moss has grown—
.
A poem should be wordless
As the flight of birds.

*

A poem should be motionless in time
As the moon climbs,
.
Leaving, as the moon releases
Twig by twig the night-entangled trees,
.
Leaving, as the moon behind the winter leaves,
Memory by memory the mind—
.
A poem should be motionless in time
As the moon climbs.

*

A poem should be equal to:
Not true.
.
For all the history of grief
An empty doorway and a maple leaf.
.
For love
The leaning grasses and two lights above the sea—

A poem should not mean
But be.

          Archibald MacLeish

 

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