back to John Masefield

“The Wild Duck” by John Masefield 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (1 Jun 1878 – 12 May 1967)
Twilight. Red in the west.
Dimness. A glow on the wood.
The teams plod home to rest.
The wild duck come to glean.
O souls not understood,
What a wild cry in the pool;
What things have the farm ducks seen
That they cry so—huddle and cry?
​
Only the soul that goes.
Eager. Eager. Flying.
Over the globe of the moon,
Over the wood that glows.
Wings linked. Necks a-strain,
A rush and a wild crying.
​
…
​
A cry of the long pain
In the reeds of a steel lagoon.
In a land that no man knows.