Classic and Contemporary Poetry
AVE, by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Full well I know the frozen hand has come Last Line: And warm their hearts with sunbeams yet unspent! | ||||||||
FULL well I know the frozen hand has come That smites the songs of grove and garden dumb, And chills sad autumn's last chrysanthemum; Yet would I find one blossom, if I might, Ere the dark loom that weaves the robe of white Hides all the wrecks of summer out of sight. Sometimes in dim November's narrowing day, When all the season's pride has passed away, As mid the blackened stems and leaves we stray, We spy in sheltered nook or rocky cleft A starry disk the hurrying winds have left, Of all its blooming sisterhood bereft: Some pansy, with its wondering baby eyes -- Poor wayside nursling! -- fixed in blank surprise At the rough welcome of unfriendly skies; Or golden daisy, -- will it dare disclaim The lion's tooth, to wear this gentler name? Or blood-red salvia, with its lips aflame: The storms have stripped the lily and the rose, Still on its cheek the flush of summer glows, And all its heart-leaves kindle as it blows. So had I looked some bud of song to find The careless winds of autumn left behind, With these of earlier seasons' growth to bind. Ah me! my skies are dark with sudden grief, A flower lies faded on my garnered sheaf; Yet let the sunshine gild this virgin leaf, -- The joyous, blessed sunshine of the past, Still with me, though the heavens are overcast, -- The light that shines while life and memory last. Go, pictured rhymes, for loving readers meant; Bring back the smiles your jocund morning lent, And warm their hearts with sunbeams yet unspent! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A SEA DIALOGUE by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES A SUN-DAY HYMN [OR LAMENT] by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES AFTER A LECTURE ON KEATS by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES BILL AND JOE by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES BIRTHDAY OF DANIEL WEBSTER by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES BOSTON COMMON: 1630 by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES BOSTON COMMON: 1774 by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES BOSTON COMMON: 1869 by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES BROTHER JONATHAN'S LAMENT FOR SISTER CAROLINE [DECEMBER 2O, 1860] by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES CACOETHES SCRIBENDI by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES |
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