Poem Anaylsis- Swimmers

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Swimmers- By Louis Untermeyer A Poem Analysis Swimmers – By Louis Untermeyer Poem I took the crazy short-cut to the bay, Over a fence or two and through a hedge, Jumping a private road, along the edge, Of backyards full of drying wash it lay. I ran, electric with elation, sweating, impetuous, and wild For a swift plunge in the sea that smiled, Mocking and languid, half a mile away. This was the final thrill, the last sensation That capped four hours of violence and laughter To have, with casual friends and casual jokes, Hard sport, a cold swim and fresh linen after, And now, the last set being played and over. I hurried past the lazy lakes of clover; I swung my racket at astonished oaks, My arm still tingling from aggressive strokes. Tennis was over for the day… I took the leaping short-cut to the bay. Then, the swift plunge into the cool, green dark The windy waters rushing past me, through me, Filled with the sense of some heroic lark, Exulting in a vigor, clean and roomy. Swiftly I rose to meet the feline sea That sprang upon me with a hundred claws, And grappled, pulled me down, and played with me. Then, tense and breathless in the tightening pause, When one wave grows into a toppling acre, I dived headlong into the foremost breaker, Pitting against a cold and turbulent strife The feverish intensity of life… Out of the foam I lurched and rode the wave, Swimming, hand over hand, against the wind; I felt the sea s vain pounding, and I grinned Knowing I was its master, not its slave. Oh, the proud total of those lusty hours The give and take of rough and vigorous tussles With happy sinews and rejoicing muscles; The knowledge of my own beneficent powers, Feeling the force in one small body bent To curb and tame this towering element. Back on the curving beach I stood again, Facing the bath-house, when a group of

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