[725] Silver
Guest poem sent in by sukrit <holysmoke@>
Slowly, silently, now the moon
Walks the night in her silver shoon;
This way, and that, she peers, and sees
Silver fruit upon silver trees;
One by one the casements catch
Her beams beneath the silvery thatch;
Couched in his kennel, like a log,
With paws of silver sleeps the dog;
From their shadowy cote the white breast peep
Of doves in silver-feathered sleep;
A harvest mouse goes scampering by,
With silver claws and a silver eye;
And moveless fish in the water gleam,
By silver reeds in a silver stream.
-- Walter de la Mare
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Silver is the creation of the moon. The sunlights falls on the
moon, it reflects it back to earth and the world becomes a poem.
Devoid of any sort of quasi-intellectualism we often try to put
on, the poem radiates a lovely naturalness. Try this - close your eyes
and be inside the frame of this poem. Its a pleasure beyond words.
This poem has something that needs to be felt rather than
just read or admired (for Walter's dexterity with words) i quote from
"Three Pillars of Zen", "Every koan is a unique expression of the living,
indivisible Buddha-nature, which cannot be grasped by the bifurcating
intellect...To people who cherish the letter above the spirit, koans
appear bewildering (and may i add trite, in our case)...(koans) force
us to open ours mind's eye and see the world and everything in it
undistorted by our concepts and judgments". Maybe its stretching it,
calling this poem a koan, or maybe it isn't?
sukrit
--
"It's today!" said Piglet.
"My favorite day," said Pooh.
From: Abraham Thomas <Thomas@>
My thanks are due to Sukrit for reintroducing me to this exceedingly
beautiful poem. I first read "Silver" in secondary school, but had
completely forgotten about it - until now.
I won't attempt to dissect what Eliot called "the delicate, invisible web
... / the inexplicable mystery of sound" [1], but I would like to comment
that I think "silver" is one of the nicest-sounding words in the language
[2]; de la Mare's hypnotic repetition of the soft syllables greatly enhances
the mysterious, moonlit beauty of the poem.
thomas.
[1] T. S. Eliot, "To Walter de la Mare": poem #630
[2] Wilfred Funk's list of the most beautiful words in English: ASPHODEL,
FAWN, DAWN, CHALICE, ANEMONE, TRANQUIL, HUSH, GOLDEN, HALCYON, CAMELLIA,
BOBOLINK, THRUSH, CHIMES, MURMURING, LULLABY, LUMINOUS, DAMASK, CERULEAN,
MELODY, MARIGOLD, JONQUIL, ORIOLE, TENDRIL, MYRRH, MIGNONETTE, GOSSAMER,
ALYSSEUM, MIST, OLEANDER, AMARYLLIS, ROSEMARY.
-- http://members.aol.com/gulfhigh2/words10.html
From: Gwen McLean <gwenmclean@>
I recalled this poem and could remember how I loved it WWWWAY back when.
Today my sister asked her book club and 3 of the ladies recited the
first line and one gave the whole poem!! That is how i found SILVER
Thank you so much . Now if you are Canadian, what year was this studied
in school? Same question if you are American or Whatever wonderful
country you hail from!! Gwen McLean
From: MsRight123@
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I have always loved this poem, but could only remember the line of "silver
fruit upon siler trees." I was surfing the web and just thought maybe if I
entered that line, I possibly could come across my favoirtie poem learned in
highschool. Now I'm so thankful I found it, it has been 12 years since I first
read it.
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From: DKK DKKK <fudgee3212321@>
Hey there! Just wanted to drop in and say that I think this poem is extremely beautiful. I'm a freshman in highschool (to answer the Canadian guy's question), and I chose this above all of the other poems. I know I'm no poetry expert, but I just had to say that this poem's incredible ^_^
P.S. Typo alert!! "From their shadowy cote the white breast peep" (9) you should replace the breast with breasts...
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From: "wangbo" <brian7575@>
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Lg0K
From: "Sharvi Mehta" <mehtasharvi@>
I like - With paws of ailver sleeps the dog
From: "John Hooke" <john@>
was reminded of this poem whilst watching the moon outside my window. I
learned it at school and had almost forgotten some of the words how nice to
find others enjoying it too. A great pleasure to find it again. trudie
From: "Barbara McLachlan" <barbara.studio@>
Incase my fisrt attempt didn't work.
I learn't this poem at secondry school and liked it, but over the years
I forgot the lines. I plan to make a small quilt for an organisation
called National Needlework Archive poems in stitches. I found out about
this organisation yesterday at the Festival of Quilts N.E.C. Birmingham
UK. This morning I surfed the web to find it and was overjoyed when I
did.
From: "Barbara McLachlan" <barbara.studio@>
Silver,
I learnt this at secondry school 1957/1961 Bishop Simpson Cof E Redhill
Surrey UK and forgot the lines but not the title.
Yesterday at The Festival of Quilts N.E.C. Birmingham UK I came a cross
a stand for the National Needlework Archive "Poems in the Waiting Room"
They want poems in stitches. I plan to register to make a Block 24" by
24" which is the required size. Hopefully they will get the copyright
for me to do it.
I found the site on the Web this morning and was overjoyed. I showed my
daughter and granddaughter as well.
This poem says that it needs to be an embroidery rather than a
patchwork, I will try both options as I am not an expert in either just
a beginner really.
Barbara.
From: <odarp@>
A friend came back from a camping trip and spoke of a walk through the
woods under a full moon. She was reminded of the words "under the
silvery moon." I was reminded of this poem, which my mother would read
aloud to me. It is nice to experience it again. I will share it with
my friend.
Fay Prado, Vero Beach, Florida
From: "david.bell04" <david.bell04@>
Re Silver , I had to learn this wonderful poem at junior school in
Cornwall UK . Reading it again sure takes me back to 1969, and Mr
Buscombe our teacher, it was his favorite.many thanks . David Bell..
From: "Steve Lewis" <slewis@>
I stepped out and looked at the moon last night, and parts of this poem
seemed to catch in my mind much like the casements. This poem
defies dissection and catches the moon.
KLEINFELDER
EXPECT MORE
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From: HILOHIGH@
It never fails...whenever I see the moon, I recite the first 2 lines of this
poem. All those around me over the years, friends and family alike know it
by heart. This all comes from having a wonderful English teacher, Ms. Michi
Morimoto at Hilo Intermediate School, on the Big Island of Hawaii, back in
1969. Great educators leave great impressions that lasts a lifetime!
From: David Lettvin <dlettvin@>
I memorized this poem in the fourth grade and never forgot it.
From: Kelli Rush <kelli.rush@>
Kelli Rush
From: "Carla Anderson" <carlaanderson@>
There are a few poems that I have memorized in my life; this is probably
my favorite, having had it in my head for about 35 years. I am now
preparing to do a poetry reading for my daughter's 3rd grade class, and
some of the insightful comments here will be added to my discussion of
it with the kids. My hope is to awaken at least a few of them to the
beautiful world of poetry at an early age, so they don't find it as
mysterious and daunting as I did in high school.
Barbara's comment about needlework has lighted a bulb for me that I'd
like to find time to design and hook a rug inspired by Silver. Question
is, which wonderful image to highlight?
From: "mrgreasley" <mrgreasley@>
When walking back from work, at the dark hour of midnight, I used to
look up at the moon, and its beautiful waning light, and think of the
"silver reeds" as I walked past the dark puddles... lovely poem, and
thanks for placing it on the site...
From: GILLMCCLEAVE@
I love this poem soooo much.
I don't ever remember doing it at school. My first memory is singing an
arrangement of it in a competition when I was about 17, but I can't believe I
didn't know it before that.
I came back to it as a teacher and used it with my class of 11 year olds.
They loved it too and I hope they will remember it. I was looking for it
today to use it on a course for teachers!
From: john.legrove@ Thu Jan 19 11:13:06 2006
Many years ago when I was small my Mother read this little poem to me=2E I can
still hear her lovely voice=2E I have often spoken the first line to myself
since then=2E It sounds almost like a prayer=2E It was so nice to find the poem
on your website and at last I can relay this gem to others=2E
John=2E=0D
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