Classic and Contemporary Poetry
PROFITS, by FANNIE STEARNS DAVIS GIFFORD Poet's Biography First Line: Yes, stars were with me formerly Last Line: Shall stars abide eternally! Alternate Author Name(s): Davis, Fannie Stearns Subject(s): Stars | ||||||||
YES, stars were with me formerly. (I also knew the wind and sea; And hill-tops had my feet by heart. Their shagged heights would sting and start When I came leaping on their backs. I knew the earth's queer crooked cracks, Where hidden waters weave a low And druid chant of joy and woe.) But stars were with me most of all. I heard them flame and break and fall. Their excellent array, their free Encounter with Eternity, I learned. And it was good to know That where God walked, I too might go. Now, all these things are past. For I Grow very old and glad to die. What did they profit me, say you, These distant bloodless things I knew? Profit? What profit hath the sea Of her deep-throated threnody? What profit hath the sun, who stands Staring on Space with idle hands? And what should God Himself acquire From all the aeons' blood and fire? My profit is as theirs: to be Made proof against mortality: To know that I have companied With all that shines and lives, amid So much the years sift through their hands, Most mortal, windy, worthless sands. This day I have great peace. With me Shall stars abide eternally! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE EPIC STARS by ROBINSON JEFFERS HYMN TO THE STARS by GEORGE LAWRENCE ANDREWS CHRISTMAS TREE by JOHN FREDERICK NIMS CLEMATIS MONTANA by MADELINE DEFREES THE UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE by JAMES GALVIN TO SEE THE STARS IN DAYLIGHT by JAMES GALVIN AFTERNOON by FANNIE STEARNS DAVIS GIFFORD |
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