Ombres Chinoises (verse)
Conkling, Grace Hazard
Ombres Chinoises You send in pity four new books And ask me how the country looks? Secret, this morning. Golden eyes Mongolian, tilted, narrow . . . and their Beauty affirms ... or half denies ....
...I feel them take my breath like these Leaves, like this glitter...
...I know A pageant or a ritual Is indicated by such trees, But if the elm could quote Li Po, Should I see what it sees...
...GRACE HAZARD CONKLING...
...This happened very long ago They seem to say: but what...
...But haven't you known a road to run Two ways at once out of the sun...
...And they flow Forward and backward like despair...
...or half denies . . . Leaf-shaped, that slow oblivious stare...
...Not easy to explain, at all...
...Or shall I say, the centuries Like goldfinches exceeding small Have settled down out of the air, A vast migration, tending where...
Vol. 11 • November 1929 • No. 4
