Tear the pink rose petal by petal And let the petals float and fall, Ravel the golden stamens out, And, last of all, Shredding its sweetness on the wind, Turn and laugh and go away, Forgetting how soft a thing it was, How brief a thing to stay. But when white winds have swept your heart, And white tides driven along your veins, And the continents are yellow with leaves And the mountains black with rains, Secretly in your depths of sleep Among the unresting rocks and roots A dream, a gleam, a warmth will start, A whirl of winds and lutes, -- And thrusting among the withered leaves Will burn the purple-pointed flame, And the rose you slew will light again, Will light again the same. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE ODYSSEY: THE GARDENS OF ALCINOUS by HOMER 23RD STREET RUNS INTO HEAVEN by KENNETH PATCHEN THE HOUSE OF LIFE: 34. THE DARK GLASS by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI TO CHLOE; AN APOLOGY FOR GOING INTO THE COUNTRY by JOHN WOLCOTT A CRADLE SONG by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS SONG OF THE SPANISH JEWS by GRACE AGUILAR ON A VOLUME OF ANONYNOUS POEMS ENTITLED A MASQUE OF POETS by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH EMBLEMS OF LOVE: 27. THE POWER OF ELOQUENCE IN LOVE by PHILIP AYRES |