Get Your Premium Membership

Parable Of The Dove

 A dove lived in a village.
When it opened its mouth
sweetness came out, sound
like a silver light around
the cherry bough. But
the dove wasn't satisfied.

It saw the villagers
gathered to listen under
the blossoming tree.
It didn't think: I
am higher that they are.
It wanted to wealk among them,
to experience the violence of human feeling,
in part for its song's sake.

So it became human.
It found passion, it found violence,
first conflated, then
as separate emotions
and these were not
contained by music. Thus
its song changed,
the sweet notes of its longing to become human
soured and flattened. Then

the world drew back; the mutant
fell from love
as from the cherry branch,
it fell stained with the bloody
fruit of the tree.

So it is true after all, not merely
a rule of art:
change your form and you change your nature.
And time does this to us.

Poem by Louise Gluck
Biography | Poems | Best Poems | Short Poems | Quotes | Email Poem - Parable Of The DoveEmail Poem | Create an image from this poem

Poems are below...



Summaries, Analysis, and Information on "Parable Of The Dove"

Sorry, no articles found.

More Information

More Poems by Louise Gluck


Book: Reflection on the Important Things