Francesca by Ezra Pound

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend January 25, 2015   Francesca   Ezra Pound

You came in out of the night And there were flowers in your hands, Now you will come out of a confusion of people, Out of a turmoil of speech about you.   I who have seen you amid the primal things Was angry when they spoke your name In ordinary places. I would that the cool waves might flow over my mind, And that the world should dry as a dead leaf, Or as a dandelion seed-pod and be swept away, So that I might find you again, Alone.            This poem is in the public domain. About This Poem   “Francesca” was published in Pound’s book Exultations (E. Matthews, 1909).   Ezra Pound was born in Hailey, Idaho, on October 30, 1885. Pound helped define the modernist aesthetic in poetry and influenced contemporaries such as Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams, and T. S. Eliot. Some of his works include Lustra and Other Poems (1917) and The Pisan Cantos (1948). Pound died in Venice, Italy, on November 1, 1972.   Poetry by Pound   Early Writings  (Penguin Classics, 2005) "To Helen About Her Hair" by Robinson Jeffers "At a Window" by Carl Sandburg "A Love Song" by William Carlos Williams Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038