Birds in Snow
by H.D.
(published in Poetry, December 1928)
See
how they trace,
across the very-marble
of this place,
bright sevens and printed fours,
elevens and careful eights,
abracadabra
of a mystic’s lore
or symbol
outlined
on a wizard’s gate.
Like plaques of ancient writ
our garden flags now name
the great and very-great;
our garden flags acclaim
in carven hieroglyph,
here king and kinglet lie,
here prince and lady rest,
mythical queens sleep here
and heroes that are slain
in holy righteous war.
Hieratic, slim and fair,
the tracery written here
proclaims what’s left unsaid
in Egypt of her dead.
H.D. visited Egypt in 1923, where she witnessed the opening of King Tut's tomb. Much of her poetry is filled with mythology, spiritualty, and ancient history.
I like this poem for many reasons, and one of those is for the rhymes. They are easy and not forced and make this poem fun to read, both silently and out loud.
Although it is a bit jarring, I also like how the poem moves from an Imagist description of birds in snow to a thoughtful treatise on hierglyphs and an appreciation of history.
H.D.--Hilda Doolittle--is sometimes given short shrift, as many female poets of her time were. Moreso than others, she is often placed in the shadow of Ezra Pound. She deserves more than that. Her poetry is diverse and she liked to play with words, sounds, and forms. They always have an intelligence in them that I enjoy.
And as far as a life? Hers was fascinating. Even her daughter, Perdita had a bio-pic worthy life. So go read some more of H.D.'s poetry and whatever biographical information you can find. "Helen" is her most famous poem, but dig into her lesser known poems as well. You will not be disappointed.
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