The Eye-Mote Blameless as daylight I stood looking At a…
““The Eye-Mote Blameless as daylight I stood looking At a field of horses, necks bent, manes blown, Tails streaming against the green Backdrop of sycamores. Sun was striking White chapel pinnacles over the roofs, Holding the horses, the clouds, the leaves Steadily rooted though they were all flowing Away to the left like reeds in a sea When the splinter flew in and stuck my eye, Needling it dark. Then I was seeing A melding of shapes in a hot rain: Horses warped on the altering green, Outlandish as double-humped camels or unicorns, Grazing at the margins of a bad monochrome, Beasts of oasis, a better time. Abrading my lid, the small grain burns: Red cinder around which I myself, Horses, planets and spires revolve. Neither tears nor the easing flush Of eyebaths can unseat the speck: It sticks, and it has stuck a week. I wear the present itch for flesh, Blind to what will be and what was. I dream that I am Oedipus. What I want back is what I was Before the bed, before the knife, Before the brooch-pin and the salve Fixed me in this parenthesis; Horses fluent in the wind, A place, a time gone out of mind. --written 1959””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
The poet describes a vivid, hallucinatory vision of horses and landscapes, merging reality with myth, reflecting inner turmoil and longing.
In simple terms: A surreal vision blends horses, myth, and personal pain.
Key Takeaway
Embrace the strange to understand inner conflict.
Themes
illusion
myth
inner conflict
Mood
introspective
melancholic
Type
poetic
philosophical
When to use this quote
- art therapy
- creative writing
- dream interpretation
Key Concepts
surrealism
psychoanalysis
Questions to Reflect On
- What does the eye speck symbolize?
- How do myths help process grief?
A Different Perspective
The imagery may overwhelm or obscure meaning.