09. Curlew

Curlew in the night

Take me in your flight

Over dark restless waves

To the resonant caves

Where the tide swells

And submarine bells

Ring ‘Curlew, curlew, curlew’

The long night through.

 

Curlew in the sky

Would I might fly

To the sibilant shores

With their opaline floors,

Where the tides steal

And mermaid bells peal

Their ‘Curlew, curlew, curlew’

And seaweeds sigh.

 

Curlew, in the dark

Would I might mark

Whence comes your blind urge,

Flying over the surge

Of the ocean below

Where the whale fountains blow;

Oh, curlew, curlew, curlew,

Linger, and hark !

 

Weekly Times  3.2.61