Robert Francis

Robert Francis is the first of my favorite poets. I like the eloquent and simple lyric tone and often rhymed verse. I was introduced to his work by Professor Larry Lebin in college, who taught several aspects of his Advanced Composition course based on some of Francis' work.

My favorite of Robert Francis' work include these poems from these collections:

The Sound I Listened For: "Excellence" and "Past and Future."
The Orb Weaver: "Pitcher" and "The Base Stealer."
Come Out Into the Sun: "Hogwash."
Like Ghosts of Eagles: "Like Ghosts of Eagles" and "Silent Poem." (These two are my favorites of all of them.)
New Poems: "Yes, What."

Without permission, I'll recite my all-time favorite Francis poem here and hope I don't get sued:


Like Ghosts of Eagles

The Indians have mostly gone
but not before they named the rivers
the rivers flow on
and the names of the rivers flow with them
Susquehanna Shenandoah

The rivers are now polluted plundered
but not the names of the rivers
cool and inviolate as ever
pure as on the morning of creation
Tennessee Tombigbee

If the rivers themselves should ever perish
I think the names will somehow somewhere hover
like ghosts of eagles
those mighty whisperers
Missouri Mississippi.

- Robert Francis
Like Ghosts of Eagles, 1974