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Sleeping Out atEaster All dark is now no more. This forest is drawing a light. All Presences change into trees. One eye opens slowly without me. My sight is the same as the sun's, For this is the grave ofthe king, Where the earth turns, waking a choir. All dark is now no more. Birds speak, their voices beyond them. A light has told them their song. My animal eyes become human As the Word rises out ofthe darkness Where my right hand, buried beneath me, Hoveringly tingles, with grasping The source ofall song at the root. Birds sing) their voices beyond them. Put down those seeds in your hand. These trees have not yet been planted. A light should come round the world, Yet my army blanket is dark, That shall sparkle with dew in the Sull. My magical shepherd's cloak Is not yet alive on my flesh. Put down those seeds in your hand. In yourpalm is the secret ofwaking. Unclasp yourpurple-nailedfingers And the wood and the sunlight together Shall spring) and makegood the world. The sounds in the air shallfind bodies) And afeather shall driftfrom thepine-top YOu shallfeel) with your long-buried hand. In yourpalm is the secret ofwaking) For the king's grave turns him to light. A woman shall look through the window And see me here, huddled and bl~ing. My child, mouth open, still sleeping, Sleeping Out at Easter / 49 Hears the song in the egg ofa bird. The sun shall have told him that song Ofa father returning from darkness, For the king)sgrave turnsyou to light. All dark is now no more. In yourpalm is the secret ofwaking. Put duwn those seeds in your hand; All Presences change into trees. A feather shall driftfrom thepine-top. The sun shall have toldyou this songJ For this is thegrave ofthe king; For the king)sgrave turnsyou to light. The Under:ground Stream I lay at the edge ofa well, And thought how to bury my smile Under the thorn, where the leaf, At the sill ofoblivion safe, Put forth its instant green In a flow from underground. I sought how the spirit could fall Down this moss-feathered well: The motion by which my face Could descend through structureless grass, Dreaming oflove, and pass Through solid earth, to rest On the unseen water's breast, Timelessly smiling, and free Ofthe world, oflight, and ofme. I made and imagined that smile To float there, mile on mile Ofstreaming, unknowable wonder, Overhearing a silence like thunder Possess every stone ofthe well Forever, where my face fell From the upper, springtime world, And my odd, living mouth unfurled Into the Stone / 50 ...

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