Tuesday, October 26, 2010

The Dragon-fly by Alfred Lord Tennyson and The Dragonfly By Louise Bogan

Green dragonfly on the spout of my little pink watering can this summer.


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The Dragon-fly

By Alfred Lord Tennyson

Today I saw the dragon-fly
Come from the wells where he did lie.
An inner impulse rent the veil
Of his old husk: from head to tail
Came out clear plates of sapphire mail.
He dried his wings: like gauze they grew;
Thro' crofts and pastures wet with dew
A living flash of light he flew.

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Blue dragonfly in August

The Dragonfly
By Louise Bogan

You are made of almost nothing
But of enough
To be great eyes
And diaphanous double vans;
To be ceaseless movement,
Unending hunger
Grappling love.

Link between water and air,
Earth repels you.
Light touches you only to shift into iridescence
Upon your body and wings.

Twice-born, predator,
You split into the heat.
Swift beyond calculation or capture
You dart into the shadow
Which consumes you.

You rocket into the day.
But at last, when the wind flattens the grasses,
For you, the design and purpose stop.

And you fall
With the other husks of summer.

 
A dragonfly-inspired mixed-media collage I did last year.

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10 comments:

Wine and Words said...

I don't know why I am always amazed they come in so many colors. Like flowers they have a never ending array...always a lovely surprise. Ooooo I like your collage!

Love ya
Annie

Phoenix said...

Beautiful poems, Marion. What started your fascination with dragonfly's to begin with, do you remember?

Kelly said...

You take the most wonderful dragonfly photos!! I really like that green one.

These poems are great, too. I think I like the first one best. I think.
:)

Bubba said...

Awesome dragonfly poem! I should have known you, of all people, would know the best ones.

Your photos are also terrific. I have a devil of a time convincing dragonflies to NOT fly away, promising them that I'm only taking a picture and NOT going to eat them.

(Maybe if I spoke dragonfly, like you do?)



WORD VERIFICATION: sunde
DEFINITION: the day after saterde and before munde

audrey said...

Marion, these photographs are FABULOUS ~ so crisp and clear you can see all the tiny details. I love the green one. The wings are amazing ~ clear and yet prisms of color and strong enough to let him fly. Dragonflies are amazing, mysterious, magical little creatures.
I like your collage!
♥ audrey

* said...

Love the mixed media collage, it inspires me to get out some books and scissors and collage up some of the notebooks I bought, after receiving your lovely book, which, by the way, is on my writing desk and is filling by the day. :)

Janelle Goodwin said...

I love your collage! It's great to see your artistic side with the visual, Marion.

Serena said...

The poems, the pictures, and your collage -- all of it, so pretty!:)

Rick said...

Marion
they seem magical
peter panish
and that's really enough to know.
Love~rick

ramblinrose said...

Thank you for sharing your lovely pictures and the poems you find! I assume the information you've posted about Dragonflies is from Wikipedia. Very lovely!