cover us...

from my anthology of must read (a)merican poems

H.D.

Oread


Whirl up, sea –
Whirl your pointed pines,
Splash your great pines
On our rocks;
Hurl your green over us,
Cover us with your pools of fir.

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Not a poem about the sea, not a poem about woodlands or rocky slopes. This is a work about motion. In six lines, five forceful verbs: whirl, whirl, splash, hurl, cover. H.D., a master imagist, creates a vortex of green whose intention is movement. Not to move us, but to allow us to witness this movement – an active yet contained energy.

Because of the work’s title, I could project symbolism onto the various images – of sea, rocks, pines, and fir, of your, our, and us – but that would be a mistake. The poem is what it is. And there’s beauty in that.