FIRE* 

Tottertoddlerborn  holds  the  old• 
mirth• arid  halelift  bites  the  hard• 
lamedodder  dodders  on  the  fall : 

                  hrah! . . 

         lamelag  and  flameleg•   fret  frill  free• 
         flamelog  and  lamelig•   free  flit  flot : 
         glee  of  the  gleed  and  heat  of  the  air• 
         flame  to  flameloll•   teather  of  hair. 

gore• eater  gibbers  in  the  gloom• 
grimgirl  flirts  to  the  dirt : 
flarefold  rears  &  soars  hot  horedom  to  the  bier : 

                  hrah! . . 

         bloodbale  and  barm  and  fret  frill  free• 
         barm  and  bloodbale•   flee  flit  flot : 
         glee  of  the  gleed  and  heat  of  the  air• 
         fire  to  firefroth•   free  of  the  flare. 

moodheart  mother  eats  the  maid• 
red• glim  glimmers  in  the  gloom : 
bell• old  ember  doles  the  ordeal : 

                  hrah! . . 

         dearth  and  death  and  fret  frill  free• 
         birth  and  breath  and  free  flit  flot : 
         glee  of  the  gleed  and  heat  of  the  air• 
         flame  to  flameloll• teather  of  hair. 

                              (1934)

_____________________________
* Cox intended his ‘nature poems’ to be read aloud, and developed a
typography to guide the reader. A key to these typographical cues is given in
the Preliminary Note to the Gogmagog book, 9 POEMS FROM NATURE (1959),
which is a sequence of nature poems from 1937:

. [full stop] = a pause of one full breath.
. . [two full stops] = a pause of two full breaths, etc.
: [colon] = a half-breath pause.
• [elevated, smaller dot] = a slight pause without taking breath.

- BH/03