Daily Sip - Eagle, The

Eagle, The

It was one of those clear, sharp, mustless days
That summer and man delight in.
Never had Heaven seemed quite so high,
Never had earth seemed quite so green,
Never had the world seemed quite so clean
Or sky so nigh.
And I heard the Deity's voice in

The sun's warm rays,
And the white cloud's intricate maze,
And the blue sky's beautiful sheen.

2

I looked to the heavens and saw him there,---
A black speck downward drifting,
Nearer and nearer he steadily sailed,
Nearer and nearer he slid through space,
In an unending aerial race,
This sailor who hailed
From the Clime of the Clouds.---Ever shifting,

On billows of air
And the blue sky seemed never so fair,
And the rest of the world kept pace.

3

On the white of his head the sun flashed bright;
And he battled the wind with wide pinions,
Clearer and clearer the gale whistled loud,
Clearer and clearer he came into view,---
Bigger and blacker against the blue.
Then a dragon of cloud
Gathering all its minions
Rushed to the fight,
And swallowed him up in a bite;
And the sky lay empty clear through.

4

Long I watched. And at last afar
Caught sight of a speck in the vastness;
Ever smaller, ever decreasing,
Ever drifting, drifting awayInto the endless realms of day;
Finally ceasing.
So into Heaven's vast fastness
Vanished that bar
Of black, as a fluttering star
Goes out while still on its way.

5

So I lost him. But I shall always see
In my mind
The warm, yellow sun, and the ether free;
The vista's sky, and the white cloud trailing,
Trailing behind,---
And below the young earth's summer-green arbors,
And on high the eagle, ---sailing, sailing
Into far skies and unknown harbors

--E. E. Cummings

This is one of my favorite poems by one of my favorite authors. Awesome post, thanks.

Btw for anyone interested check out Decorah Eagles, (just google it and see not sure of the address) there were three eggs the last one hatched yesterday and you are able to view them on cam 24/7. It is an awesome site.

I've been watching that too! I think it was on raptorresource.com or something along those lines. Little fuzzy gray things.

I'd actually never seen this poem before. I haven't even read the whole thing yet. Something to look forward to!

I know I was the last one to post, but... reading this again, I was struck by how much the style of this poem seems to diverge from what we normally consider to be "E. E. Cumming's style." Any thoughts on this? Do you like this style better or worse than his more... avant garde... contributions? My hunch would be that this is an earlier work, but I'm not sure. It's always interesting to see poets and other writers find their distinct style as time goes on.