TO L. A. I. AT Shiraz, in a sultan's garden, stood A tree whereon a curious apple grew, One side like honey, and one side like rue. Thus sweet and bitter is the life of man, The sultan said, for thus together grow Bitter and sweet, but wherefore none may know. Herewith together you have flower and thorn, Both rose and brier, for thus together grow Bitter and sweet, but wherefore none may know. II. Take them and keep them, Silvery thorn and flower, Plucked just at random In the rosy weather -- Snowdrops and pansies, Sprigs of wayside heather, And five-leaved wild-rose Dead within an hour. Take them and keep them: Who can tell? some day, dear, (Though they be withered, Flower and thorn and blossom,) Held for an instant Up against thy bosom, They might make December Seem to thee like May, dear! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE POPPY-LAND EXPRESS by EDGAR WADE ABBOT THE SCARE-FIRE by ROBERT HERRICK AN INVITATION TO A DRINKFEST by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS A REMEMBERED FACE by EDMUND JOHN ARMSTRONG JAMES MCCOSH by ROBERT BRIDGES (1858-1941) TO A LADY IN ILLNESS by SAMUEL EGERTON BRYDGES TOWARDS DEMOCRACY: PART 4. GRACIOUS MOTHER by EDWARD CARPENTER |