Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE POWERFUL, by WILLIAM ROSE BENET


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE POWERFUL, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: When baffled days seem each to drag a chain
Last Line: Shy mistletoe, plucked by valhalla's gate?
Subject(s): Frost; Glass & Glassblowers; Snow; Glaziers


When baffled days seem each to drag a chain,
Dead hopes are laid in mortuary of Fate,
And our small hearts lament the wide estate
God gave them for vast dreams that bring no gain,
Remains the soft, hushed power of snow and rain,
Of little flowers, that sunder rocks too great
For Thor to cleave. Mark how this frost of late
With glazier's emeril works upon the pane!

Know you the silent force of growing grain,—
How the winged pine-seed drifts to recreate?
With tedious hydraulics, seeming vain,
The tiny ant might undermine a state.
Or tell me, how was mighty Baldur slain,
Shy mistletoe, plucked by Valhalla's gate?





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