Our fathers wrung their bread from stocks and stones
And fenced their gardens with the Redmen’s bones;
Embarking from the Nether Land of Holland,
Pilgrims unhouseled by Geneva’s night,
They planted here the Serpent’s seeds of light;
And here the pivoting searchlights probe to shock
The riotous glass houses built on rock,
And candles gutter by an empty altar,
And light is where the landless blood of Cain
Is burning, burning the unburied grain.
(Robert Lowell)
More Poetry from Robert Lowell:
Robert Lowell Poems based on Topics: Light, Night- My Last Afternoon With Uncle Devereux Winslow (Robert Lowell Poems)
- Falling Asleep Over The Aeneid (Robert Lowell Poems)
- After The Surprising Conversions (Robert Lowell Poems)
- Mr. Edwards and the Spider (Robert Lowell Poems)
- Sailing Home From Rapallo (Robert Lowell Poems)
- The Old Flame (Robert Lowell Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Night Poems, Light PoemsBased on Keywords: geneva, embarking, searchlights, landless, redmen, unhouseled, pivoting