Pursuit by H. D.

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend November 22, 2014   Pursuit   H. D.

What do I care that the stream is trampled, the sand on the stream-bank still holds the print of your foot: the heel is cut deep. I see another mark on the grass ridge of the bank— it points toward the wood-path. I have lost the third in the packed earth.   But here a wild-hyacinth stalk is snapped: the purple buds—half ripe— show deep purple where your heel pressed.   A patch of flowering grass, low, trailing— you brushed this: the green stems show yellow-green where you lifted—turned the earth-side to the light: this and a dead leaf-spine, split across, show where you passed.   You were swift, swift! here the forest ledge slopes— rain has furrowed the roots. Your hand caught at this; the root snapped under your weight.   I can almost follow the note where it touched this slender tree and the next answered— and the next.   And you climbed yet further! you stopped by the dwarf-cornel— whirled on your heels, doubled on your track.   This is clear— you fell on the downward slope, you dragged a bruised thigh—you limped— you clutched this larch.   Did your head, bent back, search further— clear through the green leaf-moss of the larch branches?   Did you clutch, stammer with short breath and gasp: wood-daemons grant life— give life—I am almost lost.   For some wood-daemon has lightened your steps. I can find no trace of you in the larch-cones and the underbrush.            This poem is in the public domain. About This Poem   “Pursuit” was published in H. D.’s first book of poems, Sea Garden (Constable and Company LTD, 1916).   H. D. was born in Pennsylvania, in 1886. She was awarded a medal from the American Academy of Arts and Letters for her work, which included numerous novels and collections of poetry. She died in Switzerland in July of 1961. Poetry by H. D.   Collected Poems 1912-1944 (New Directions Publishing Corporation, 1986) "Birches" by Robert Frost "My Brook" by Helen Hay Whitney "Mountain Pines" by Robinson Jeffers Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends.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