Classic and Contemporary Poetry
TO MY COMPANIONS, by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Mine ancient chair! Thy wide-embracing arms Last Line: That breathes in accents sweet to me alone. | ||||||||
MINE ancient chair! thy wide-embracing arms Have clasped around me even from a boy: Hadst thou a voice to speak of years gone by, Thine were a tale of sorrow and of joy, Of fevered hopes and ill-foreboding fears, And smiles unseen, and unrecorded tears. And thou, my table! though unwearied time Hath set his signet on thine altered brow, Still can I see thee in thy spotless prime, And in my memory thou art living now; Soon must thou slumber with forgotten things, The peasant's ashes and the dust of kings. Thou melancholy mug! thy sober brown Hath something pensive in its evening hue, Not like the things that please the tasteless clown, With gaudy streaks of orange and of blue; And I must love thee, for thou art mine own, Pressed by my lip, and pressed by mine alone. My broken mirror! faithless, yet beloved, Thou who canst smile, and smile alike on all, Oft do I leave thee, oft again return, I scorn the siren, but obey the call; I hate thy falsehood, while I fear thy truth, But most I love thee, flattering friend of youth. Primeval carpet! every well-worn thread Has slowly parted with its virgin dye; I saw thee fade beneath the ceaseless tread, Fainter and fainter in mine anxious eye; So flies the color from the brightest flower, And heaven's own rainbow lives but for an hour. I love you all! there radiates from our own, A soul that lives in every shape we see; There is a voice, to other ears unknown, Like echoed music answering to its key. The dungeoned captive hath a tale to tell, Of every insect in his lonely cell; And these poor frailties have a simple tone, That breathes in accents sweet to me alone. | 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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