Herbert Read
To Scardanelli*
(Reproduced with permission - this poem may not be reproduced without permission from David Higham Associates.)
See, the field is empty ...
You came here by a curious detour
the hedges were trimmed but O-
ranges among the intricate thorns
glowed like torches. Expected to find
a temple of honey-coloured stone
perhaps an old man crouched in the porch
listening to the marble-browed girl
who there discourses on the nature of love.
There isn't even a shithouse.
The clouds are unanchored they might
fall out of the sky
I have brought you a basket of figs
and some fine linen
But sorry !
There's no white goat to slaughter
and fingers
have faltered that should have played the flute.
*The name used by Hölderlin in signing the poems of his last "mad" period.
(Reproduced with permission - this poem may not be reproduced without permission from David Higham Associates.)
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