Yesterday was Richard Wilbur's birthday, his 88th, God bless him. On the phone he reminded me of how strongly he feels about riddles as a legitimate poetic form.
Dick provided a bunch of them in a great talk he gave at the Library of Congress when he was Poet Laureate twenty-one years ago.
I propose to post some of them on the blog with thanks to the gracious Mr. Wilbur.
Ok, here's today's — a "great two-line enigma," as Dick says:
I tremble at each breath of air,
And yet can heaviest burdens bear.
— DL