The Old Prison

Read 'The Old Prison' by 'Judith Wright' and provide your summary and literary analysis in the comments section below.

The Old Prison by Judith Wright

 The rows of cells are unroofed, 
a flute for the wind's mouth, 
who comes with a breath of ice 
from the blue caves of the south. 

O dark and fierce day: 
the wind like an angry bee 
hunts for the black honey 
in the pits of the hollow sea. 

Waves of shadow wash 
the empty shell bone-bare, 
and like a bone it sings 
a bitter song of air. 

Who built and laboured here? 
The wind and the sea say 
-Their cold nest is broken 
and they are blown away- 

They did not breed nor love, 
each in his cell alone 
cried as the wind now cries 
through this flute of stone.

Form: Ballad Comments

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