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Egrets


Once as I travelled through a quiet evening,
I saw a pool, jet-black and mirror-still.
Beyond, the slender paperbarks stood crowding;
each on its own white image looked its fill,
and nothing moved but thirty egrets wading -
thirty egrets in a quiet evening.

Once in a lifetime, lovely past believing,
your lucky eyes may light on such a pool.
As though for many years I had been waiting,
I watched in silence, till my heart was full
of clear dark water, and white trees unmoving,
and, whiter yet, those thirty egrets wading.

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Comments

  • michaelosull
    September 8, 2007
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    echoes of Yeats' wild swans at coole!


  • June 27, 2007
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    Ennobling poem

    From guest Rich (contact)
    They inscribed this poem at the Central Park Zoo in New York City, near a small pond with fish, frogs and weeds. They used it to marvelous effect. The setting helps the poem come alive, and the poem ennobles the site. In fact, poetry about the natural world is all over the Central Park Zoo. You should see it.


  • June 26, 2007
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    egrets

    From guest evelen (contact)
    A beautiful poem by a poet of unimaginable talent who uses imagery to the best extent.


  • rufina caraid Moderators member
    September 13, 2006
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    beauty of nature

    Judith Wright was a long-term advocate for the Aboriginal people of Australia. She was also very aware of the country and its splendours. This is where she is at this moment in time as she writes about the Egrets.
    The water is jet-black due partially to the vegetation growing around and in it, the depth of the water plays some part here too. The Egrets are a beautiful bird; their white feathers in stark contrast to the colour of the water. I see no reference here to Aboriginal people but to the beauties of natures to be preserved, admired and respected.

    By using one's own imagination it's easy to see the sight of these beautiful birds and to feel the peace that Judith Wright felt at this moment in time.
    That's what this poem is : A Moment in Time - nothing more.

    • handel
      September 18, 2006
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      as you see it.

      As you see this poem it is about nature like you say, but you cannot ignore that Judith Wright was not a simplistic poet. Just as the works of Blake and Wordsworth cannot be understood without delving deeper within the symbolism of their words, how do we know that Wright’s poetry is too not such a work? The beauty of nature is shown through this poem but what you are trying to do is apply previous analysis to every poem of wrights. What she says in one interview about certain issues does not necessarily apply to all poems she wrote, as you said yourself, applying only to "a moment in time". Every word within a poem (by a poet who can actually write) is important, if it was not necessary, it would be withdrawn and within Egrets there are too many words that cannot simply be attributed to the description of nature. Wright did love Australian landscapes but she says herself that her poetry cannot be read in isolation to the context of Australian society and this poem is one that goes further then simply talking about the role of Australian flora and fauna in Australian identity.