KIRKYARD.

March 19, 2005 by languagehat 4 Comments

A silent conquering army,
The island dead,
Column on column, each with a stone banner
Raised over his head.
A green wave full of fish
Drifted far
In wavering westering ebb-drawn shoals beyond
Sinker or star.
A labyrinth of celled
And waxen pain.
Yet I come to the honeycomb often, to sip the finished
Fragrance of men.
—George Mackay Brown

Comments

Going Dotty in Kansas says

March 19, 2005 at 11:59 pm

This is very sad. Or I should say it strikes me as melancholy, as three people I knew passed away just these last two weeks.
Noetica says

March 20, 2005 at 5:54 am

A sublime poem, catching us in its undertow. Reminds me of Valéry’s Le Cimetière marin, which is dear to me because I have translated it. I see that Douglas Dunn writes:
“Ignoring the cheapness of ‘wavering westering ebb-drawn’, one can go on to say that Brown’s poems revel in this ‘finished fragrance’.”
Cheapness? He should write so well!
jason says

March 23, 2005 at 6:06 pm

Very fascinating find. Thank you.
Somehow it reminds me of Louise Bogan’s work.
Moi says

September 13, 2006 at 5:06 pm

I am attempting to study this poem for higher english! I don’t understand parts of it, and it’s confusing!

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