The Midnight Skaters

by Edmund Blunden

 

The hop-poles stand in cones,
     The icy pond lurks under,
The pole-tops steeple to the thrones
     Of stars, sound gulfs of wonder ;
But not the tallest there, ’tis said,
Could fathom to this pond’s black bed.
 
Then is not death at watch
     Within those secret waters ?
What wants he but to catch
     Earth’s heedless sons and daughters ?
With but a crystal parapet
Between, he has his engines set.
 
Then on, blood shouts, on, on,
     Twirl, wheel and whip above him,
Dance on this ball-floor thin and wan,
     Use him as though you love him ;
Court him, elude him, reel and pass,
And let him hate you through the glass.
 
Edmund Blunden | Classic Poems
 

Forefathers ] Report on Experience ] [ The Midnight Skaters ]

 
"The Midnight Skaters", "Forefathers", and "Report on Experience" by Edmund Blunden can be found in his collection Poems of Many Years (copyright ©Estate of Claire Blunden 1957) and are reproduced by permission of PFD (www.pfd.co.uk) on behalf of the Estate of Claire Blunden.
 
 
 

 


 

 

 
 
 
 

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