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The Vision of Sir Launfal: And Other Poems by James Russell Lowell; Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Julian W. Abernethy, Ph.D. — John Shaqi

The Vision of Sir Launfal: And Other Poems by James Russell Lowell; Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Julian W. Abernethy, Ph.D.Lowell, James Russell

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The Vision of Sir Launfal: And Other Poems by James Russell Lowell; Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Julian W. Abernethy, Ph.D.

Name: The Vision of Sir Launfal: And Other Poems by James Russell Lowell; Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Julian W. Abernethy, Ph.D.
Author: Lowell, James Russell

Lowell, James Russell

American poetry

But better far it is to speak
      One simple word, which now and then
    Shall waken their free nature in the weak          80
      And friendless sons of men;

    To write some earnest verse or line
      Which, seeking not the praise of art.
    Shall make a clearer faith and manhood shine
      In the untutored heart.

    He who doth this, in verse or prose,               85
      May be forgotten in his day,
    But surely shall be crowned at last with those
      Who live and speak for aye.




HEBE


      I saw the twinkle of white feet.
    I saw the flash of robes descending;
      Before her ran an influence fleet,
    That bowed my heart like barley bending.

      As, in bare fields, the searching bees            5
    Pilot to blooms beyond our finding,
      It led me on, by sweet degrees
    Joy's simple honey-cells unbinding.

      Those Graces were that seemed grim Fates;
    With nearer love the sky leaned o'er me;           10
      The long-sought Secret's golden gates
    On musical hinges swung before me.

      I saw the brimmed bowl in her grasp
    Thrilling with godhood; like a lover
      I sprang the proffered life to clasp;--          15
    The beaker fell; the luck was over.

      The Earth has drunk the vintage up;
    What boots it patch the goblet's splinters?
      Can Summer fill the icy cup,
    Whose treacherous crystal is but Winter's?         20

      O spendthrift Haste! await the gods;
    Their nectar crowns the lips of Patience;
      Haste scatters on unthankful sods
    The immortal gift in vain libations.

      Coy Hebe flies from those that woo,              25
    And shuns the hands would seize upon her;
      Follow thy life, and she will sue
    To pour for thee the cup of honor.




TO THE DANDELION


    Dear common flower, that grow'st beside the way,
    Fringing the dusty road with harmless gold,
      First pledge of blithesome May,
    Which children pluck, and, full of pride, uphold,
    High-hearted buccaneers, o'er joyed that they            5
    An Eldorado in the grass have found,
      Which not the rich earth's ample round.
    May match in wealth--thou art more dear to me
    Than all the prouder summer-blooms may be.

    Gold such as thine ne'er drew the Spanish prow          10
    Through the primeval hush of Indian seas,
      Nor wrinkled the lean brow
    Of age, to rob the lover's heart of ease;
    'T is the Spring's largess, which she scatters now
    To rich and poor alike, with lavish hand,               15
      Though most hearts never understand
    To take it at God's value, but pass by
    The offered wealth with unrewarded eye.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

The Vision of Sir Launfal: And Other Poems by James Russell Lowell; Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Julian W. Abernethy, Ph.D.

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