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 5, Volume 5 Number 1, October - December 1978.

Four Poems Ted Hughes

'Under the world's wild rims. . .'

Under the world's wild rims
Five hundred glass skylights, a double row,
Watched me, across the canal,
Halfway to school.

A thousand green skylights
Guarded a sacked tomb.

In submarine twilight, boots hushed
Ankle-deep through volcanic talc
Kicking up magical steel objects
For futuristic knobkerries.

Lifelines poured into wagepackets
Had leaked a warm horror, like Pompei,
Into that worn-out, silent dust.

Vandal plumes of willow-herb
Desecrated the mounds-
...


Searching, please wait... animated waiting image