Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE LESSER BEAUTY by MARGARET STEELE ANDERSON

First Line: YOU ARE THE FIRST WILD VIOLET OF THE YEAR
Last Line: WE WOULD NOT BARTER FOR THINGS MORE DIVINE!
Subject(s): FLOWERS; VIOLETS; WELLESLEY COLLEGE;

YOU are the first wild violet of the year;
Young grass you are, and apple-bloom, and spray
Of honeysuckle; you are dawn of day,
And the first snow-fall! It is you I hear
When the March robin calls me loud and clear,
Or lonely rill goes singing on its way
Like some small flute of heav'n; or when the gray
Sad wood-dove calls and early stars appear.
And you it is within the wayside shrine
Carved tenderly; and in the folded wings
On some neglected tomb; and in the vine
And leaf and saint of old imaginings
On some forgotten missal -- little things
We would not barter for things more divine!



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