The snail pushes through a green 
night, for the grass is heavy 
with water and meets over 
the bright path he makes, where rain 
has darkened the earth's dark.  He 
moves in a wood of desire, 

pale antlers barely stirring 
as he hunts.  I cannot tell 
what power is at work, drenched there  
with purpose, knowing nothing. 
What is a snail's fury?  All  
I think is that if later 

I parted the blades above 
the tunnel and saw the thin 
trail of broken white across 
litter, I would never have  
imagined the slow passion 
to that deliberate progress. 

 
Les poussées d'escargot par une nuit verte, parce que l'herbe est 
lourde avec de l'eau et se réunit au-dessus du chemin lumineux qu'il 
fait, où la pluie a obscurci l'obscurité de la terre. Il se déplace 
un bois du désir, 

antlers pâles remuant à peine comme il chasse. Je ne peux pas dire 
quelle puissance est au travail, trempé là avec le but, ne sachant 
rien. Quelle est la fureur d'un escargot ? Tout que je pense est celui 
si plus tard 

J'ai séparé les lames au-dessus du tunnel et ai vu la traînée 
mince du blanc cassé à travers la civière, je n'aurais jamais 
imaginé la passion lente à ce progrès délibéré. 

 
Die Schneckestösse durch eine grüne Nacht, denn das Gras ist mit 
Wasser schwer und trifft über dem hellen Weg, den er bildet, wo Regen 
die Dunkelheit der Masse verdunkelt hat. Er zieht in ein Holz des 
Wunsches um, 

kaum rührende Lattengeweihe, wie er jagt. Ich kann nicht erklären, 
welche Energie an der Arbeit ist, dort durchnäßt mit dem Zweck und 
nichts weiß. Was ist die Wut einer Schnecke? Alles, das ich denke, 
ist das wenn später 

Ich zerteilte die Blätter über dem Tunnel und sah die dünne Spur 
des defekten Weiß über Sänfte, ich würde nie mich vorgestellt 
haben die langsame Neigung zu diesem überlegten Fortschritt. 

 
Os impulsos do caracol com uma noite verde, porque a grama são 
pesados com água e encontram-se com sobre o trajeto que brilhante 
faz, onde a chuva escureceu a obscuridade da terra. Move-se em uma 
madeira do desejo, 

antlers pálidos que agitam mal como caça. Eu não posso dizer que 
poder está no trabalho, drenched lá com a finalidade, não sabendo 
nada. Que é fury de um caracol? Tudo que eu penso é aquele se mais 
tarde 

Eu parti as lâminas acima do túnel e vi a fuga fina de branco 
quebrado através da maca, mim nunca imaginaria a paixão lenta a esse 
progresso deliberado. 

 
Los empujes del caracol con una noche verde, porque la hierba es 
pesados con agua y satisface sobre la trayectoria brillante que él 
hace, donde la lluvia ha obscurecido la obscuridad de la tierra. Él 
se mueve en una madera del deseo, 

cornamentas pálidas que revuelven apenas como él busca. No puedo 
decir qué energía está en el trabajo, mojado allí con el 
propósito, no sabiendo nada. ¿Cuál es furia de un caracol? Todo lo 
que pienso es ése si más adelante 

Dividí las láminas sobre el túnel y vi el rastro fino del blanco 
quebrado a través de la litera, yo nunca habría imaginado la pasión 
lenta a ese progreso deliberado. 

(These are public search results on the terms: 'Thom Gunn: Considering The Snail poem')

• <b>Poetry</b> Wednesday: Sluggish | Earful of Cider by Sarah W (2013/05/15 10:15)

  —”The Snail,” Richard Lovelace. I found several more recent snail poems, which can be found on The Poetry Foundation website. I particularly like Thom Gunn's “Considering the Snail,” which is actually about a snail, which is ...
• From the <b>Poetry</b> Archive: <b>Thom Gunn</b> | Poetgal by Robin Houghton (2013/03/16 05:29)

  But Thom Gunn was another matter – I haven't read anything by him since schooldays but I'm now motivated to seek him out, having read and listened to the two poems recorded here – Moly, and Considering the Snail.
• BLCKDGRD: Lapping Like a Cloak of Chaos by BDR (2013/01/20 06:47)

  CONSIDERING THE SNAIL Thom Gunn. The snail pushes through a green. night, for the grass is heavy. with water and meets over. the bright path he makes, where rain. has darkened the earth's dark. He. moves in a wood of desire, ... only posts when on post-surgery narcotics, which, fortunately for him, unfortunately for us, is very infrequently and hopefully stays that way): Sad a fine poet died of substance abuse, but impressed despite myself Thom was doing meth ...
• Where Five Valleys Meet: <b>Considering the Snail</b> by <b>Thom Gunn</b> <b>...</b> by Rosemary (2012/12/04 01:30)

  Considering the Snail by Thom Gunn 1929 - 2004. The snail pushes ... to Facebook. Labels: experimental photos, general, poetry ... Your poem is so fitting for these sometimes misfortunate strange creatures. I haven't had too ...
• Interpreting Cezanne (The Faber Book of Beasts) | Roger Wallbank <b>...</b> by admin (2012/11/18 23:52)

  Still, there's so much to admire here in this poetry that “brings out the best in us” as Muldoon observes, that no reader will leave this anthology unmoved. From Thom Gunn: Considering The Snail. The snail pushes through a ...
• Sex and Death among Rats and <b>Snails</b> | Edicio dela Torre by edicio (2012/11/14 07:49)

  The second item made us recall a line of poetry she once quoted in a letter she wrote to me as a prisoner – “the slow furious passion of a snail.” She thought she got it from e.e.cummings. We both Googled and found out that the idea, if not the precise language, came from Thom Gunn's Considering a Snail. I thought the trivia about fast and furious sex of rats and the slow fury of snails were good for some laughs. And that's that. But today, unexpectedly, rats and snails ...
• Garden 65: Of <b>Snails</b>, Sex and Soul by noreply@blogger.com (Janet) (2012/07/29 09:02)

  Thom Gunn 'Considering the Snail' ... In looking at the contribution of poets to snail related literature she says tartly of a Thom Gunn mollusc, “His snail is male and predatory. The image tells us more about the poet than it does ...
• The Syllabic Childhood of James Brown | modernlettuce by modernlettuce (2012/07/25 14:32)

  It's OK to change the line's tense and gender to fit with your poem. Here is a syllabic poem by Thom Gunn about a snail. Every line has 7 syllables (except one has 8 – he cheated!). Considering the Snail The snail pushes ...
• In Praise Of: <b>Thom Gunn</b> | The Society Club by The Society Club (2012/06/20 14:40)

  In Praise Of: Thom Gunn. In Books on June 20, 2012 at 9:40 pm. I've only recently been introduced by the poetry of Thom Gunn. And I'm happily immersed. Critics said of Gunn: “Gunn restores poetry to a centrality it has often seemed close to losing, by dealing in the context ... Considering the Snail. The snail pushes through a green night, for the grass is heavy with water and meets over the bright path he makes, where rain has darkened the earth's dark. He moves in a wood of desire, ...
• <b>Considering the snail</b> - <b>Thom Gunn</b> (1929-2004) | The Melting Pot by Edilberto González Trejos (2012/05/14 18:20)

  ... the slow passion to that deliberate progress. from Collected poems, Faber, 1994. Posted 14th May 2012 by Edilberto González Trejos. Labels: considering the snail Thom Gunn nature 20th Century observation of nature English Poetry snail ...
• Snailbird.com » Blog Archive » The <b>Snail</b> Trail is Here! - Illustrations <b>...</b> by Nikki (2012/05/06 14:15)

  Of course I'd be taking part in this. Somewhere on my blog homepage, you'll find that snail – click on it and get ready for some adorableness! And just because, have some snail poems. Considering the Snail by Thom Gunn ...
• teifidancer: <b>Thom Gunn</b> (b.29/08/25 - 20/04/04 - <b>Considering the Snail</b>. by teifidancer (2012/04/07 05:00)

  Thom Gunn (b.29/08/25 - 20/04/04 - Considering the Snail. Thom Gunn, I like his stuff a lot, we share a birthday. Borm in Britan, after moving to America, he became associated with San Francisco and the excesses of ...
• Polyolbion: <b>Snail</b> Explains by Matt Merritt (2011/09/23 09:00)

  I'd be terrified, writing a poem about snails, of struggling to escape the shadow cast by Thom Gunn's towering Considering The Snail, but that first verse marks out its own territory beautifully. Posted by Matt Merritt at 16:00 ...
• <b>Thom Gunn</b> – <b>Considering the Snail</b> | impracticalcriticism by impracticalcriticism (2011/09/12 01:55)

  Thom Gunn – Considering the Snail. Posted on September 12, 2011 by impracticalcriticism. This poem is an exploration of the hidden forces that govern nature, 'drenching it with purpose'. The image of a snail battling through undergrowth ...
• Random Noodling: <b>Poetry</b> Friday--<b>Snails</b> by Diane Mayr (2011/06/30 21:01)

  The snail pushes through a green / night, for the grass is heavy / with water and meets over / the bright path he makes, where rain / has darkened the earth's dark. He / moves in a wood of desire, / pale antlers barely stirring ...
• Eight Miles Higher: <b>THOM GUNN</b>: A SENSE OF MOVEMENT by Andrew Darlington (2011/06/28 08:58)

  There's also the 'Faber Book Of Modern Verse' (1965) edited by Michael Roberts with Gunn's “Innocence”, a poem dedicated to Tony White ('he ran the course, and as he ran he grew'), and “Consider The Snail” ('I would ...
• The Collected <b>Poetry</b> of <b>Thom Gunn</b>! | stevereads by Steve Donoghue (2011/04/27 07:28)

  Our book today is 1994's The Collected Poems of Thom Gunn, who was born in England and followed his lover to California at the height of the drug-soaked.
• Medusa&#39;s Kitchen: Slow Passion by Kathy Kieth, Wrangler-in-Chief: (2011/04/17 05:36)

  Banded White Snail. CONSIDERING A SNAIL —Thom Gunn. The snail pushes through a green. night, for the grass is heavy. with water and meets over. the bright path he makes, where rain. has darkened the earth's dark. He. moves in a wood of ... The cream-colored box on the left is our Daily Diary, usually posted by 8am, which features poets, photos and artwork on a daily basis from our outstanding creators from NorCal and beyond. (By the way, sometimes the ...
• <b>Considering the Snail</b> – <b>Thom Gunn</b> | baalbek.org by Simon Thomas (2011/04/07 06:30)

  Considering the Snail – Thom Gunn. Posted on 7 April, 2011 by Simon. There is a nice entry on Thom Gunn at the Poetry Archive, although it is a little sparse on actual poetry. Nonetheless, you can hear him recite Moly, which is told from the ...
• <b>Poetry</b> Review: “<b>Considering the Snail</b>” by <b>Thom Gunn</b> - Daily Blog <b>...</b> by Mark Hinton (2011/02/19 06:18)

  Thom Gunn was born in Britain but is associated more often with San Francisco and the excesses of American bohemianism than with the country of his birth. Yet his poetry has always seemed to me to be uniquely influenced ...
• TENZIN TSELHA PERSONAL BLOG: Thanks to <b>Thom Gunn</b> by tselha (2011/01/28 01:25)

  ... be able to make any difference to anybody. I am one individual who is not charismatic, and is absolutely confused and nervous. But this morning Munira mam was teaching the Poem "Considering the snail".by Thom Gunn ...
• COUNTER-JIHAD: BEYOND THE EDL: 20th Century English <b>Poetry</b> by THE ENGLISH DEFENCE LEAGUE EXTRA (2010/12/13 09:09)

  It enters the dark hole of the head. The window is starless still; the clock ticks, The page is printed. Considering the Snail, by Thom Gunn The snail pushes through a green night, for the grass is heavy with water and meets over ...
• Science teacher: <b>Considering the snail</b> by doyle (2010/10/22 19:30)

  Considering the Snail is by Thom Gunn who passed through his snail moments back in 2004. The snail eyestalk is really a slug that was wandering near or back stoop. The poem was suggested by Mary Ann Reilly, a fine arts ...
• Anecdotal Evidence: `The Slow Passion&#39; by Patrick Kurp (2010/07/30 00:01)

  I still see the latter's glistening trails of snot in the morning but they've retreated in the absence of rain, hiding deeper in their moist realm. As compensation here's Thom Gunn's “Considering the Snail” (My Sad Captains, 1961): ...
• Full lists. | Poetpainterproject&#39;s Blog by poetpainterproject (2010/04/28 12:01)

  I made my pairings of painter and poet by throwing random crumpled pieces of paper at blank canvases but the original contenders are as follows: Poets/Poems: ... Thom Gunn's Considering the snail. John Berryman's ...
• I Am Kele » Blog Archive » <b>considering the snail</b> by <b>thom gunn</b> by koko (2010/04/23 07:06)

  considering the snail by thom gunn. i was in rehearsal a few days ago i thought of this poem. The snail pushes through a green night, for the grass is ... VJESCI · http://vjesci.wordpress.com/2010/03/30/snail-langston-hughes/ ...
• Gaya Scienza: <b>Thom Gunn</b> by Gabriel François (2010/02/16 20:37)

  In a happy coincidence both the TLS and the NYRB recently published papers on Thom Gunn, reviewing essays on his poetry as well as a new small collection of poems selected by August Kleinzahler, initially for Faber in 2007, now... ... them beyond the initial shock of reading them, and beyond any debate about the author's sexuality or his nationality or his doubleness": "The Wound", "In Santa Maria del Popolo", "Considering the Snail", "Touch", and "At the Center".
• A Room For Learning: <b>Considering the Snail</b> by Tal.birdsey@gmail.com (2010/02/06 07:27)

  Considering the Snail. BY THOM GUNN. The snail pushes through a green. night, for the grass is heavy. with water and meets over. he bright path he makes, where rain. has darkened the earth's dark. He. moves in a wood of desire,. pale antlers barely stirring .... We came trickling into Rikert right on time, all of us tired and having known something of the poet's idea that, “It is the most distant course that comes nearest to thyself.” ***. Evan presented his project on Drop ...
• What Is a <b>Snail&#39;s</b> Fury? - BLCKDGRD by BDR (2009/12/30 06:01)

  CONSIDERING THE SNAIL. Thom Gunn. The snail pushes through a green night, for the grass is heavy with water and meets over the bright path he makes, where rain has darkened the earth's dark. He moves in a wood of desire, pale antlers .... Posted at 08:01 AM in aargocalyptic, Books, Current Affairs, Daggregator, Mocomofo, Music, My Complicity, obamapology, obamapostasy, Poem, Poke, Project Goad, Shoot Me Now, We Are the Enemy | Permalink ShareThis ...
• Harrison&#39;s Writing Adventures: <b>Considering the Snail</b> by Harrison (2009/09/21 08:37)

  All I think is that if later. I parted the blades above the tunnel and saw the thin trail of broken white across litter, I would never have imagined the slow passion to deliberate progress. -Thom Gunn I believe that this poems tells us ...
• Versindaba » Blog Archive » Odyssee van die slak by Johann de Lange (2009/08/23 21:27)

  in the curious phenomenon of your occipital horn. (Uit: Observations, 1924). ∞∞∞. Thom Gunn. Considering the Snail Thom Gunn. The snail pushes through a green night, for the grass is heavy with water and meets over the bright ... trail of broken white across litter, I would never have imagined the slow passion to that deliberate progress. (Uit: My Sad Captains and Other Poems, 1961). ∞∞∞. Leslie Monsour. The Snail in the Marigold Leslie Monsour. I watched ...
• <b>considering the snail</b> | Flickr - Photo Sharing! by nobody@flickr.com (ed ed) (2009/07/30 10:20)

  What is a snail's fury? All I think is that if later I parted the blades above the tunnel and saw the thin trail of broken white across litter, I would never have imagined the slow passion to that deliberate progress. (thom gunn) ... What a beautiful poem. And a beautiful image. ☆. catimini added this photo to her favorites. (42 months ago). catimini (42 months ago | reply). I always wonder of the stubbornness of the snails which go to improbable and dangerous places.
• writerhoward&#39;s Blog: More than a <b>snail</b> by writerhoward (2009/01/18 09:31)

  However, the poem lost some of its grip on me in its third stanza. There, Gunn changed the "person," inserting himself into the snail's path, disrupting my journey. Considering the Snail by. Thom Gunn. The snail pushes ...
• Little Reviews: <b>Poem</b> for Friday by littlereview (2008/09/04 21:01)

  The snail pushes through a green / night, for the grass is heavy / with water and meets over / the bright path he makes, where rain / has darkened the earth's dark. He / moves in a wood of desire, / pale antlers barely stirring ...
• <b>Considering the Snail</b> | Flickr - Photo Sharing! by kristen | lanierstar.com (2008/06/15 00:00)

  night, for the grass is heavy with water and meets over the bright path he makes, where rain has darkened the earth's dark. He moves in a wood of desire,. pale antlers barely stirring as he hunts. -Thom Gunn ...
• and <b>consider</b> me and you, too | some of the writing of Bill Strickland by billstrickland (2008/06/13 03:45)

  It's a line from a poem, “Considering the Snail,” by Thom Gunn, in an anthology I have called Staying Alive: Real Poems for Unreal Times. Gunn tries to get past our conception of the snail and imagine the passions and desires ...
• __postsecret: - LiveJournal by Carri (2008/06/07 18:56)

  link · Collapse · Expand. Its near my right clavicle. It is 4 words taken from the poem Considering the Snail by Thom Gunn. It says, "slow passion" "deliberate progress". Reply; New comment. Post a new comment; 2 comments ...
• English Rocks: Tiffany&#39;s Post by Emma Mayberry (2008/04/01 11:08)

  Considering the Snail by Thom Gunn ... In this poem, the speaker praises the snail's determination to overcome its surroundings; this praise is NOT undermined by the speaker's ease in accomplishing the same tasks.
• exceptindreams: 118: <b>Considering the Snail</b> by exceptindreams (2008/01/16 18:46)

  Considering the Snail” Thom Gunn The snail pushes through a green night, for the grass is heavy with water and meets over the bright path he makes, where rain has darkened the earth's dark. He moves in a wood of desire, ...
• <b>Considering the snail</b> | Flickr - Photo Sharing! by nobody@flickr.com (Lumase) (2007/08/26 00:00)

  What is a snail's fury? All I think is that if later I parted the blades above the tunnel and saw the thin trail of broken white across litter, I would never have imagined the slow passion to that deliberate progress. Thom Gunn.
• <b>Poetic</b> Licence: <b>Thom Gunn</b> by David Vernon Goddard (2007/03/24 09:14)

  Gunn's second book, The Sense of Movement (1957), and more especially his third, My Sad Captains (1961), feature poems in syllabic measures, poems which, like “Vox Humana” and “Considering the Snail,” show the poet ...
• Integral Options Cafe: <b>Poem</b>: <b>Thom Gunn</b> by WH (2006/11/27 05:54)

  The snail pushes through a green / night, for the grass is heavy / with water and meets over / the bright path he makes, where rain / has darkened the earth's dark. He / moves in a wood of desire, / pale antlers barely stirring ...
• freeflame: Death of a <b>snail</b> by freeflame (2005/11/15 14:25)

  Considering The Snail By: Thom Gunn The snail pushes through a green night, for the grass is heavy with water and meets over the bright path he makes, where rain has darkened the earth's dark. He moves in a wood of desire, pale antlers barely stirring as he hunts. I cannot tell what power is at work, drenched there ... apparently i wax poetic at 3 in the morning... who knew? :-P i'm sorry this poem (eulogy?) is about a land snail and not a water snail. I hope octopus ...

(These are public search results on the terms: 'Thom Gunn: Considering The Snail poem')