Padraic Colum. The Vultures. Harriet Monroe, ed. Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912-22

Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22.

The Vultures

By Padraic Colum


FOUL-FEATHERED and scald-necked,
They sit in evil state;
Raw marks upon their breasts
As on men’s wearing chains.

Impure, though they may plunge	5
Into the morning’s springs;
And spirit-dulled, though they
Command the heights of heaven.

Angels of foulness ye,
So fierce against the dead!—	10
Sloth on your muffled wings,
And speed within your eyes!