Roderic Quinn

Here you will find thePoemIronyof poet Roderic Quinn

Irony

ALL night a great wind blew across the land, Come fresh from wild and salty seas, With many voices loud and low Appealing to the sympathies Of those with whom long, long ago It had been friends, but who Had lost the way to know and understand Its weird and tearless woe. A sleeper, drawn from ancient fancies, stirred, And strangely breathed in deep unrest As though his heart were choked with grief; The moon down-stealing in the west Threw every move of limb and leaf Upon his blind. Now this Was he the wind sought wildly, had he heard ? Alas, the friend was deaf! All time a great Thought wandered round the world Naked and breathing loveliness, Seeking in alien souls a home And thwarted, yet a-seek no less At every door, till forced to roam A wonder unexpressed: A sense of strangeness, as of wings unfurled, Hovered at times o'er some. He heard the knocking at the inner door; He saw her face a light intense, And stood amazed, irresolute. 'Now, thou who hast the poet-sense In song serene and absolute Proclaim my hidden worth!' He sobbed; she drooped her wings . . .Woe evermore! The chosen mind was mute.