Francesca

Ezra Pound

You came in out of the night
And there were flowers in your hands,
Now you will come out of a confusion of people,
Out of a turmoil of speech about you.

I who have seen you amid the primal things
Was angry when they spoke your name
In ordinary places.
I would that the cool waves might flow over my mind,
And that the world should dry as a dead leaf,
Or as a dandelion seed-pod and be swept away,
So that I might find you again,
Alone.

This poem is in the public domain.

About This Poem

“Francesca” was published in Pound’s book Exultations (E. Matthews, 1909).

Ezra Pound was born in Hailey, Idaho, on October 30, 1885. Pound helped define the modernist aesthetic in poetry and influenced contemporaries such as Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams, and T. S. Eliot. Some of his works include Lustra and Other Poems (1917) and The Pisan Cantos (1948). Pound died in Venice, Italy, on November 1, 1972.

Poetry by Pound

Early Writings

(Penguin Classics, 2005)

"To Helen About Her Hair" by Robinson Jeffers

"At a Window" by Carl Sandburg

"A Love Song" by William Carlos Williams

Poem-a-Day

Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends.

Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.

You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend

January 25, 2015