Answers

Dame Edith Sitwell

I kept my answers small and kept them near;
Big questions bruised my mind but still I let
Small answers be a bullwark to my fear.

The huge abstractions I kept from the light;
Small things I handled and caressed and loved.
I let the stars assume the whole of night.

But the big answers clamoured to be moved Into my life. Their great audacity
Shouted to be acknowledged and believed.

Even when all small answers build up to
Protection of my spirit, still I hear
Big answers striving for their overthrow.

And all the great conclusions coming near.

Next 10 Poems

• Dame Edith Sitwell : Aubade
• Dame Edith Sitwell : Bells Of Gray Crystal
• Dame Edith Sitwell : By The Lake
• Dame Edith Sitwell : Came The Great Popinjay
• Dame Edith Sitwell : Clowns' Houses
• Dame Edith Sitwell : Four In The Morning
• Dame Edith Sitwell : Interlude
• Dame Edith Sitwell : Still Falls The Rain
• Dame Edith Sitwell : The Fan
• Dame Edith Sitwell : The Web Of Eros

Previous 10 Poems

• Sir Philip Sidney : You Gote-heard Gods
• Sir Philip Sidney : Wooing-stuff
• Sir Philip Sidney : When Love Puffed Up With Rage Of High Disdain
• Sir Philip Sidney : Voices At The Window
• Sir Philip Sidney : Virtue, Beauty, And Speech, Did Strike, Wound, Charm
• Sir Philip Sidney : Verses ( No, No, No, No )
• Sir Philip Sidney : Verses
• Sir Philip Sidney : Two Pastorals
• Sir Philip Sidney : Translation From Horace, Book Ii. Ode X., Beginning 'rectius Vives, Licini,' &c.
• Sir Philip Sidney : To The Tune Of A Neapolitan Villanel