Rock and Hawk

by Robinson Jeffers


Original Language English

Here is a symbol in which
Many high tragic thoughts
Watch their own eyes.

This gray rock, standing tall
On the headland, where the seawind
Lets no tree grow,

Earthquake-proved, and signatured
By ages of storms: on its peak
A falcon has perched.

I think, here is your emblem
To hang in the future sky;
Not the cross, not the hive,

But this; bright power, dark peace;
Fierce consciousness joined with final
Disinterestedness;

Life with calm death; the falcon's
Realist eyes and act
Married to the massive

Mysticism of stone,
Which failure cannot cast down
Nor success make proud.

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Recommended Books: Robinson Jeffers

The Wild God of the World: An Anthology of Robinson Jeffers Cawdor and Medea Excesses of God: Robinson Jeffers As a Religious Figure The Collected Poetry of Robinson Jeffers: Vol. 3, 1939-1962



Rock and Hawk