Most Read... John McAuliffeBill Manhire in Conversation with John McAuliffe
(PN Review 259)
Patricia CraigVal Warner: A Reminiscence
(PN Review 259)
Eavan BolandA Lyric Voice at Bay
(PN Review 121)
Joshua WeinerAn Exchange with Daniel Tiffany/Fall 2020
(PN Review 259)
Vahni CapildeoOn Judging Prizes, & Reading More than Six Really Good Books
(PN Review 237)
Christopher MiddletonNotes on a Viking Prow
(PN Review 10)
Poems Articles Interviews Reports Reviews Contributors
Reader Survey
PN Review Substack

This poem is taken from PN Review 37, Volume 10 Number 5, March - April 1984.

Modernist Verbs Jennifer McMahon

Catching the. tones of voice at turn of tide;
Catching the metre in which minds confide;
Catching the breath as Europe tilted and the lives began to slide.

Cracking the mould to let the germins loose;
Cracking Buddha's repose; the Druids' truce;
Cracking the whip as sickles curtsey round the shock slumped in its
  noose.

Picking the flower called love-in-idleness;
...


Searching, please wait... animated waiting image