All 3 Uses of
ravine
in
Leaves of Grass
- I see the steppes of Asia,
I see the tumuli of Mongolia, I see the tents of Kalmucks and Baskirs,
I see the nomadic tribes with herds of oxen and cows,
I see the table-lands notch'd with ravines, I see the jungles and deserts,
I see the camel, the wild steed, the bustard, the fat-tail'd sheep,
the antelope, and the burrowing wolf
I see the highlands of Abyssinia,
I see flocks of goats feeding, and see the fig-tree, tamarind, date,
And see fields of teff-wheat and places of verdure and gold.†Chpt 6
- From Far Dakota's Canyons [June 25, 1876]
From far Dakota's canyons,
Lands of the wild ravine, the dusky Sioux, the lonesome stretch, the
silence,
Haply to-day a mournful wall, haply a trumpet-note for heroes.†Chpt 32 *ravine = deep, narrow, steep-sided valley
- Yonnondio
A song, a poem of itself—the word itself a dirge,
Amid the wilds, the rocks, the storm and wintry night,
To me such misty, strange tableaux the syllables calling up;
Yonnondio—I see, far in the west or north, a limitless ravine, with
plains and mountains dark,
I see swarms of stalwart chieftains, medicine-men, and warriors,
As flitting by like clouds of ghosts, they pass and are gone in the
twilight,
(Race of the woods, the landscapes free, and the falls!†Chpt 34
Definitions:
-
(1)
(ravine) a deep, narrow, steep-sided gorge or valley -- especially one formed by running water
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
In archaic literature, ravined may be used to mean ravenous.