THE UNBORN CHILD
‘| HEY put my poem in a book, Dull eyes ran over it and took From it no thrill, no ecstasy, To mystery no key, But over it slipped with careless glances As water in the brook Slips over pebbles, murmuring as it dancesNo mark upon the water, nor upon the stoneOver the opaque surface of their mind It passes and is gone And leaves no trace behind. Come, this one shall be mine own And from some spring Beyond my passive head The timid thing Shall creep As the serpent trom his crevice deep Slides forth into his old, accustomed form And, coiled in grasses thick and warm, Drinks through his green and golden skin The blessed sunlight inSo shall this child of my own making live Within the womb, under my own control, And know but brief Excursions to the doorstep of my soul For my delight alone, In truth mine own, mine own, And to the unworthy public never shown.
Alas, old vanity and habit still Prevail, and here it is, against my will.
Arnold
Wall
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 799, 12 November 1954, Page 16
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181THE UNBORN CHILD New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 799, 12 November 1954, Page 16
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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