The Osprey

The Osprey

He swept the full circumference of the lake, With leisured flight,
Then with a light
And careless spiral swung
To the centre where he hung
One hundred feet above the water,
At perfect rest.

He dropped and dived:
And when he rose he flung
A colour riot through the air-
Brown of his wings, white of his breast,
Gold of the lilies, green of the pads,
And the silver flash
Of a bass
Against the backdrop of a rainbow
Woven by the sun with threads of the splash.

E. J. Pratt
(Unpublished poem printed inside the card "The Osprey" Claire Pratt, also included in Pratt Complete Poems Part 2 (University of Toronto Press, 1989 p.370)