The Cranes of Ibycus

There was a man who watched the river flow Past the huge town, one gray November day. Round him in narrow high-piled streets at play The boys made merry as they saw him go, Murmuring half-loud, with eyes upon the stream, The immortal screed he held within his hand. For he was walking in an April land With Faust and Helen. Shadowy as a dream Was the prose-world, the river and the town. Wild joy possessed him; through enchanted skies He saw the cranes of Ibycus swoop down. He closed the page, he lifted up his eyes, Lo—a black line of birds in wavering thread Bore him the greetings of the deathless dead!

Collection: 
English
Emma Lazarus

More from Poet

  • Gifts

    “o World-god, give me Wealth!” the Egyptian cried. His prayer was granted. High as heaven behold Palace and Pyramid; the brimming tide Of lavish Nile washed all his land with gold. Armies of slaves toiled ant-wise at his feet, World-circling traffic roared through mart and street, His priests...

  • Chopin

    I. a Dream of interlinking hands, of feet Tireless to spin the unseen, fairy woof Of the entangling waltz. Bright eyebeams meet, Gay laughter echoes from the vaulted roof. Warm perfumes rise; the soft unflickering glow Of branching lights sets off the changeful charms Of glancing...

  • The New Ezekiel

    What, can these dead bones live, whose sap is dried By twenty scorching centuries of wrong? Is this the House of Israel, whose pride Is as a tale that ’s told, an ancient song? Are these ignoble relics all that live Of psalmist, priest, and prophet? Can the breath Of very heaven bid these...

  • The Crowing of the Red Cock

    Across the Eastern sky has glowed The flicker of a blood-red dawn; Once more the clarion cock has crowed, Once more the sword of Christ is drawn. A million burning roof-trees light The world-wide path of Israel’s flight. Where is the Hebrew’s fatherland? The folk of Christ is sore bestead...

  • The Banner of the Jew

    Wake, israel, wake! Recall to-day The glorious Maccabean rage, The sire heroic, hoary-gray, His five-fold lion-lineage: The Wise, the Elect, the Help-of-God, The Burst-of-Spring, the Avenging Rod. From Mizpeh’s mountain-ridge they saw Jerusalem’s empty streets, her shrine Laid waste where...