Song for Pythagoras

By Dannie Abse b. 1923 Dannie Abse

White coat and purple coat

a sleeve from both he sews.

That white is always stained with blood,

that purple by the rose.

And phantom rose and blood most real

compose a hybrid style;

white coat and purple coat

few men can reconcile.

White coat and purple coat

can each be worn in turn

but in the white a man will freeze

and in the purple burn.

Dannie Abse, “Song for Pythagoras” from New and Collected Poems, published by Hutchinson. Used by permission of The Random House Group Limited, http://www.randomhouse.co.uk.

Source: White Coat Purple Coat: Collected Poems 1948-1988 (1994)

Biography

The title of Dannie Abse’s collected poems, White Coat, Purple Coat (1989), refers to his lifelong professions of physician and poet. Of these careers, Abse has stated, “I like to think I’m a poet and Medicine my serious hobby.”

Considered one of the most important Welsh writers of the past century, Abse was born in Cardiff, Wales, to non-Welsh-speaking parents, but has lived mostly in London. His poetry collections include . . .

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