Axes After whose stroke the wood rings, And the echoes! Echoes traveling Off from the center like horses. The sap Wells like tears, like the Water striving To re-establish its mirror Over the rock That drops and turns, A white skull, Eaten by weedy greens. Years later I Encounter them on the road---- Words dry and riderless, The indefatigable hoof-taps. While From the bottom of the pool, fixed stars Govern a life.
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Text Authorship:
- by Sylvia Plath (1932 - 1963), "Words", appears in Ariel, first published 1965 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Frank Ahrold (b. 1931), "Words" [ mezzo-soprano, flute, clarinet, bassoon, violoncello, vibraphone, percussion ], from Three Poems of Sylvia Plath [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ned Rorem (1923 - 2022), "Words", published 1974 [ soprano, clarinet, and piano ], from Ariel: Five Poems of Sylvia Plath, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2007-12-14
Line count: 20
Word count: 72