The Archer

Smith, Arthur James Marshall (1902 - 1980)

2Is level with thine ear, thy body taut,

3Its nature art, thyself thy statue wrought

4Of marble blood, thy weapon the poised wing

5Of coiled and aquiline Fate. Then, loosening, fling

6The hissing arrow like a burning thought

7Into the empty sky that smokes as the hot

8Shaft plunges to the bullseye’s quenching ring.

9So for a moment, motionless, serene,

10Fixed between time and time, I aim and wait;

11Nothing remains for the breath now but a waive

12His prior claim and let the barb fly clean

13Into the heart of what I know and hate –

14That central black, the ringed and targeted grave.

1] Smith discusses the creation of this poem in his "The Poetic Process: Of the Making of Poems" (361-62). Back to Line

Publication Start Year

1937

Publication Notes

The Canadian Forum

RPO poem Editors

Ian Lancashire / Sharine Leung

RPO Edition

2011

Rhyme

Form