by Annie Winifred Ellerman (1894 - 1983)
Gulls
Language: English
Baby gulls who cannot walk, Whose feathers are ungrown, Hop to tufts of camomile From lattices of stone. The wind smoothes where the back dips Wings of shaded straw; Blue and coral-banded shells Stick between each claw. Tumbling with the grace of seals From the far spit of land, They scurry from their own wide beaks Reflected on the sand.
Confirmed with Winifred Bryher, Three Songs, in: Poetry, Volume 25, Number 11, 1924, p.78
Text Authorship:
- by Annie Winifred Ellerman (1894 - 1983), "Gulls", appears in Three Songs, no. 2, copyright status unknown [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 Jodi Goble (b. 1974), "Gulls" [ soprano and piano ], from Sea Creatures, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2025-10-09
Line count: 12
Word count: 60