Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, WHAT HAVE I DONE?, by LILLIAN BLANCHE FEARING


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

WHAT HAVE I DONE?, by                    
First Line: I lay my finger on time's wrist to score
Last Line: Then ask thyself -- what yet is to be done?
Subject(s): Labor & Laborers; Work; Workers


I LAY my finger on Time's wrist to score
The forward-surging moments as they roll;
Each pulse seems quicker than the one before;
And lo! my days pile up against my soul
As clouds pile up against the golden sun;
Alas! What have I done? What have I done?

I never steep the rosy hours in sleep,
Or hide my soul, as in a gloomy crypt;
No idle hands into my bosom creep;
And yet, as water-drops from house-eaves drip,
So, viewless, melt my days, and from me run;
Alas! What have I done? What have I done?

I have not missed the fragrance of the flowers,
Or scorned the music of the flowing rills,
Whose numerous liquid tongues sing to the hours;
Yet rise my days behind me, like the hills,
Unstarred by light of mighty triumphs won;
Alas! What have I done? What have I done?

Be still, my soul; restrain thy lips from woe!
Cease thy lament! for life is but the flower;
The fruit comes after death; how canst thou know
The roundness of its form, its depth of power?
Death is life's morning. When thy work's begun,
Then ask thyself -- What yet is to be done?





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