John Hollander – July 15, Iyengar II & I

Another Villanelle, by a poet who among many other things, was a technical wizard! Lots of lovely, round, sound and imagery for a day of backbends.

By the Sound

Dawn rolled up slowly what the night unwound

And gulls shrieked violently just out of sight.

That was when I was living by the sound.

The silent water heard the light resound

From all its wriggling mirrors, as the bright

Dawn rolled up slowly what the night unwound.

Each morning had a riddle to expound;

The wrong winds would blow leftward to the right,

In those days I was living by the sound:

The dinghies sank, the large craft ran aground,

Desire leapt overboard, perhaps in fright.

Dawn rolled up slowly what the night unwound.

But seldom, in the morning's lost-and-found

Would something turn up that was free of blight.

In those days I was living by the sound

The sky contrived, whose water lay around

The place I was dreaming by the light

(Dawn rolled up slowly) what the night unwound

In those days. I was living by the sound.