Silence

A poet’s wide possession of the earth.He has th’ enjoyment of a flower’s birthBefore its budding—ere the first red streaks,—And Winter cannot rob him of their cheeks.Look—if his dawn be not as other men’s!Twenty bright flushes—ere another kensThe first of sunlight is abroad—he seesIts golden ‘lection of the topmost trees,And opes the splendid fissures of…

Why was I ever farrowed, whyNot spitted for a roaster?In this world, pigs, as well as men,Must dance to fortune’s fiddlings,But must I give the classics up,For barley-meal and middlings?Of what avail that I could spellAnd read, just like my betters,If I must come to this at last,To litters, not to letters?Oh, why are pigs…

The world may wag at will,So I have my cigar.Some fret themselves to deathWith Whig and Tory jar;I don’t care which is in,So I have my cigar.Sir John requests my vote,And so does Mr. Marr;I don’t care how it goes,So I have my cigar.Some want a German row,Some wish a Russian war;I care not. I’m…

The little window where the sunCame peeping in at morn;He never came a wink too soonNor bought too long a day;But now, I often wish the nightHad borne my breath away.I remember, I rememberThe roses, red and white,The violets, and the lily-cups–Those flowers made of light!The lilacs where the robin built,And where my brother setThe…

And the living weep and sigh,Over dust that once was love.Once I only wept the dead,But now the living cause my pain:How couldst thou steal me from my tears,To leave me to my tears again?My Mother rests beneath the sod,—Her rest is calm and very deep:I wish’d that she could see our loves,—But now I…

Thronging shadows cloud the light,Like the advent of the night,—Colder, colder, colder still,Upward steals a vapor chill—Strong the earthy odor grows—I smell the mould above the rose!Welcome, Life! the Spirit strives!Strength returns, and hope revives;Cloudy fears and shapes forlornFly like shadows at the morn,—O’er the earth there comes a bloom—Sunny light for sullen gloom,Warm perfume…