Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE ELM TREE, by CARROLL RYAN Poet's Biography First Line: Old giant from the days we call primeval Last Line: Through hope's bright portal in the happy west. Alternate Author Name(s): Ryan, William Thomas Carroll Subject(s): Desolation; Elm Trees; Spring | ||||||||
Old giant from the days we call primeval, In solitary greatness rooted there; Lifting thy splendid head in pride coeval With the dark mountain to the higher air. A grand old elm, but not an elm tree only, For in thee dwells the spirit of the years. The passer sees thee standing vast and lonely To him no awful presence there appears. He does not see the phantoms thee surrounding, Nor hear the voices from thy branches call, Nor the low echoes from the rocks resounding; Thy myst'ry cannot be resolved by all. But there is one within my father's dwelling, Who from his window gazes out on thee. He knows, Old Tree, the tale that thou art telling, He hears and sees what none else hear or see. Thou hast a secret, Old Elm, worth the keeping, We children knew it not in early days; But they who far beyond thy shade are sleeping Revealed it to us ere they went their ways. God pity us who sadly wait with shrinking, Like one sweet spirit for the falling leaf. O, Brother, mine! in darkness I am thinking Of severed branches and a scattered sheaf. Down the long road that dips into the valley The love-crowned visions of our youth have fled; While like lost mariners we keep a tally Of the sad years in desolation sped. But O, remember, in these doubtful mazes There is a fountain by the elm tree blest, And the weird presence in its branches gazes Through hope's bright portal in the happy west. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SPRING LEMONADE by TONY HOAGLAND A SPRING SONG by LYMAN WHITNEY ALLEN SPRING'S RETURN by GEORGE LAWRENCE ANDREWS ODE TO SPRING by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD ODE TO SPRING by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD SPRING FLOODS by MAURICE BARING SPRING IN WINTER by CHARLOTTE FISKE BATES SPRING ON THE PRAIRIE by HERBERT BATES |
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