Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


DESTINY by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH

Poet Analysis

First Line: THREE ROSES, WAN AS MOONLIGHT, AND WEIGHED DOWN
Last Line: SHUT IN THE ICY PALM OF HER DEAD CHILD.
Subject(s): DEATH - CHILDREN; FLOWERS; ROSES; DEATH - BABIES;

THREE roses, wan as moonlight and weighed down
Each with its loveliness as with a crown,
Drooped in a florist's window in a town.

The first a lover bought. It lay at rest,
Like flower on flower, that night, on Beauty's breast.

The second rose, as virginal and fair,
Shrunk in the tangles of a harlot's hair.

The third, a widow, with new grief made wild,
Shut in the icy palm of her dead child.



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