Randall Jarrell

Jarrell was born in Tennessee and died in North Carolina, but significant parts of his life were spent outside the South—childhood in California, World War II in the Army Air Corps, some teaching time at Kenyon College in

Blind Sheep, The

by Randall Jarrell (1914–65)

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16

 The Sheep is blind; a passing owl, 
 A surgeon of some local skill, 
 Has undertaken, for a fee, 
 The cure. A stump, his surgery, 
 Is licked clean by a Cat; his tools— 
 A tooth, a thorn, some battered nails— 
 He ranges by a shred of sponge 
 And he is ready to begin. 
 Pushed forward through the gaping crowd, 

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Poets Book of Days

November 21

Philip Freneau's "To the Memory of the Brave Americans" is published in Freeman's Journal in 1781.

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Poetry Trivia

Question:

Which French Enlightenment writer's sometimes manic style and radical thoughts are said to have been fueled by drinking upwards of 50 cups of coffee a day?

Answer

Voltaire

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