No One Shall Call By Name The Innumerable Swans
Written by Mary Angela Douglas
for William Butler Yeats, unsurpassed
and for the late Irish Belgian poet, Martin Burke, my friend.
no one shall dare to sing again about the milky stars
to measure time and history by the gravitas of the Rose
to find the still music in the overshadowing woods
by heart, composed.
or beauty keening desolate in the margin of dream,
along the white roads.
requiescat, then.
no one shall call them by name, the innumerable swans
or command the peacock tinted skies
to whorl, to whirl through poetry devised
for all that dies and cannot find its way
changeling, through the anguish of the living day
when what is noble dims to merely enterprise.
strike the harp they will not dare again
to call back those doom fretted men
of the Easter Rising
tuned to the fatal hour and impervious-
babble of power as they will.
nor shall they compel the winds to rise
from Thoor Ballylee
the mythic sails to fill
no celtic twilight, seconding the first
to bud forth into reechoing infinity;
because the first remains.
nor through driving rains
summers in Byzantium
to shine again
confounding music in the end
nor words to strive
against the churlish, the cherishless tides.
mary angela douglas august 1-3. 2023
You can find more of Mary’s work at her site:
https://angelidicuoremare.blogspot.com/
Thank you so much, Nathan Woods and J.Z. I am so happy to have my poem pass through the beautiful silver door. The immortal Anglo Irish poet William Butler Yeats is a most revered poet, LIFELONG CHERISHED for me. And to also honor my friend, the late Belgian Irish poet and playwright MARTIN BURKE in your silver pages makes me weep for joy.. I believe Martin Burke was of all contemporary poets of his time the one most directly in the line of Yeats though Martin had other influences and confluences as well. And his own mythology to contend with. Gone too soon, dear Martin. If you look for the poet Martin Burke online with the words Irish Belgian poet you will find a great deal of his work. Particularly through Lapwing Press who offers PDFS of much of his work.
Thank you for sharing this, these words are beautiful and took me on a wonderful journey.