Naming the Animals by Anthony Hecht

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Having commanded Adam to bestow
Names upon all the creatures, God withdrew
To empyrean palaces of blue
That warm and windless morning long ago,
And seemed to take no notice of the vexed
Look on the young man's face as he took thought
Of all the miracles the Lord had wrought
Now to be labeled, dubbed, yclept, indexed.

Before an addled mind and puddle brow,
The feathered nation and the finny prey
Passed by; there went biped and quadruped.
Adam looked forth with bottomless dismay
Into the tragic eyes of his first cow,
And shyly ventured, "Thou shalt be called 'Fred.'"

Comments

  1. AnonymousJune 27, 2008 at 12:33 PM

    I love the painting of the pig. The face is so expectant and endearing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. SanJune 27, 2008 at 8:15 PM

    Fred. A good name. A sad-eyed name.

    ReplyDelete

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Hey, thanks for your thoughts and your time:>)

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