Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, HONEY DRIPPING FROM THE COMB, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

HONEY DRIPPING FROM THE COMB, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: How slight a thing may set one's
Last Line: So bitter, yet so sweet!
Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F.
Subject(s): Blessings; Honey; Youth


HOW slight a thing may set one's fancy drifting
Upon the dead sea of the Past! -- A view --
Sometimes an odor -- or a rooster lifting
A far-off "Ooh! ooh-ooh!"
And suddenly we find ourselves astray
In some wood's-pasture of the Long Ago, --
Or idly dream again upon a day
Of rest we used to know.
I bit an apple but a moment since --
A wilted apple that the worm had spurned, --
Yet hidden in the taste were happy hints
Of good old days returned.
And so my heart, like some enraptured lute,
Tinkles a tune so tender and complete,
God's blessing, must be resting, on the fruit --
So bitter, yet so sweet!




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