The Captured Goddess by Amy Lowell

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend October 16, 2016   The Captured Goddess   Amy Lowell

Over the housetops, Above the rotating chimney-pots, I have seen a shiver of amethyst, And blue and cinnamon have flickered A moment, At the far end of a dusty street.   Through sheeted rain Has come a lustre of crimson, And I have watched moonbeams Hushed by a film of palest green.   It was her wings, Goddess! Who stepped over the clouds, And laid her rainbow feathers Aslant on the currents of the air.   I followed her for long, With gazing eyes and stumbling feet. I cared not where she led me, My eyes were full of colours: Saffrons, rubies, the yellows of beryls, And the indigo-blue of quartz; Flights of rose, layers of chrysoprase, Points of orange, spirals of vermilion, The spotted gold of tiger-lily petals, The loud pink of bursting hydrangeas. I followed, And watched for the flashing of her wings.   In the city I found her, The narrow-streeted city. In the market-place I came upon her, Bound and trembling. Her fluted wings were fastened to her sides with cords, She was naked and cold, For that day the wind blew Without sunshine.   Men chaffered for her, They bargained in silver and gold, In copper, in wheat, And called their bids across the market-place.   The Goddess wept.   Hiding my face I fled, And the grey wind hissed behind me, Along the narrow streets.            This poem is in the public domain. About This Poem   "The Captured Goddess" was published in Sword Blades and Poppy Seed (The Macmillan Company, 1914).   Amy Lowell was born on February 9, 1874, in Brookline, Massachusetts. Her collections of poetry include A Dome of Many-Coloured Glass (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1912) and What's O'Clock (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1925), which won the Pulitzer Prize. She died on May 12, 1925 Poetry by Lowell   Selected Poems of Amy Lowell (Rutgers University Press, 2002)  "Stars Wheel in Purple" by H. D. "Danse Russe" by William Carlos Williams "The Florist Wears Knee-Breeches" by Wallace Stevens Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends.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